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Ethan Chen

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

21 March 2019

What happens when you put two leaders with different ideologies in the same environment?

Imagine you are on an island trapped with a group of people and you have to rebuild a society on but you have two potential leaders fighting over different concepts of how to run this island. Well, in William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies, a group of boys survive a plane crash and they have to rebuild and recreate a society on a deserted island with no adult authority. As the book goes on, their society progressively turns from civilized to chaotic which ends in an all-out war for power between Jack and Ralph. The reader can see real-world examples from history where two leaders with totally different opinions rise up to power causing tension and resulting in an outbreak of violence.    

North Korea and South Korea is a famous example of this. Both are well known for one of their most militarized and protected borders in the world. What once was a unified Korea living as one, whole country, fell into the split of North and South Korea. The Japanese had all control over Korea when they invaded in 1910, oppressing them and destroying their culture until the Japanese finally surrender during WW2. The Soviets started to take over Korea as well as the US had to make sure they did not take all of Korea. This was the chance for Korea to rebuild under a new government in which two people came into power, Kim II Sung and Syngman Rhee. The problem was, they had different ideas of how to run the country. In the article “Why North Korea and South Korea Are Separated” by Prableen Bajpai, she wrote about how the rise in power for the two leaders caused conflict as their political ideology differed about how to run the new era of Korea. Sung wanted a communist government while Rhee wanted a capitalist one. They both wanted to reunite Korea as a whole but the fight over which political idea is still being battelled out. This means that although the two emerging leaders wanted to agree on the objective to unite Korea as one nation again and rebuild their society after the Japanese conflict, they both had completely different views about how the government should be administered. This opposition created a lack of trust in each and the tensions between the two groups. Primarily, without an agreement from both parties of what to do, pressures from both sides can rise quickly which will ultimately lead to a call of action. Similar to the boys in Lord of the Flies, Ralph’s plans are challenged by Jack’s plans about what priorities should be set for their time on the island.   

In the early days of the island, there were already disagreements of what their intentions on the island should be. Jack and Ralph had already started to have a controversy about their differences in ideas of how the island should be governed and what is essential to their survival. In this scene, Jack came back after he failed to catch a pig as Ralph and Simon were trying to assemble living quarters for the boys to live in. Ralph got frustrated in their progress on the shelters. “’I was talking about smoke! Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!’ ‘But we want meat!’ ‘And I work all day with nothing but Simon and you come back and don’t even notice the huts’” (54). In this tense interaction, Ralph is arguing with Jack about how building shelters and creating a fire is essential to their goal of surviving. On the other hand, Jack thinks that hunting is more important as they need food to avoid starvation. This shows how two people who are rising to power can cause conflict as they believe in completely different methods of how the island should be run and what they should prioritize for their survival. Even though they are in the same environment going through the same situation, there would always be a disagreement of what to achieve and to accomplish. It caused tension between Ralph and Jack’s relationship with each other which in turn caused the lack of effectivity on the island and issues later down the line, which will resulted in a split between the group.  

With the disagreement of who should run Korea (more like communism vs. capitalism,) the USSR and the USA relationship barely holding on, the communist North decided to attack the whole Korean peninsula. In “Korea: A History Of The North-South Split” by Tim Marshall, the Foreign Affairs Editor wrote that “In 1950 the North launched a surprise attack across the 38th parallel and quickly took most of the South. The United Nations then backed what it called a "police action" to repulse the advance and the Korean War, which would last for three years, had begun.” This shows how the situation could escalate when two completely different ideologies are put down on the table. This real-life connection happens to take a violent path with an unexpected attack to dominate the other side. With the method of violence, it supports the one leader display dominance to the people and dominates the other party. This also gives the party leverage of power over the everyday people they are leading. Similar to Lord of the Flies, Jack’s tribe decided to attack Ralph’s tribe so they could obtain the power of the fire which in this case, the fire is the essential thing that keeps both parties at power.

After Jack left Ralph’s tribe, he established a new group which was made up of mostly the biguns who left Ralph as they believed in Jack’s ideas. They both ran alongside one another separately for a while until Jack planned an ambush against Ralph. His tribe needed a way to roast the pig so they decided it was best to steal Piggy’s glasses from Ralph’s tribe. Knowing that the glasses means fire and fire is the symbol of power, they wanted to fight to get it. As night fell, things started to unravel. Jack tribe ambushed Ralph’s group and invaded their sheatler. “He was torn and jolted, found fingers in his mouth and bit them. A fist withdrew and came back like a piston so that the whole shelter exploded…’ That was Jack and his hunters’ said Ralph bitterly.’Why can’t they leave us alone?’” (167). This section from the text shows how an outbreak of violence finally occurs between the two rivals with completely different ideas of how to run the island. With two separate groups on the island who highly oppose each other, there will always be conflict between the two groups in order to dominate the other side and belittle them. With two leaders who have very distinct ideas from one other, there was bound to be an outbreak or clash between the two parties.

By connecting Lord of the Flies to the real-life event of the split of North and South Korea, it is seen how two individuals with highly opposing ideas interact and lead a group of people in the same circumstances. With two rising leaders with two different beliefs and no solid agreement from both sides, there would definitely be a split between the group of people supporting the leaders that their ideas line up with, causing very high tension between the two parties which could ultimately lead into conflict like violence. When you place two leaders with different beliefs and standards, there would be immediate dispute between the two groups that could lead to serious difficulty later on.  

Work Cited

Bajpai, Prableen. “Why North Korea and South Korea Are Separated.” Investopedia  

Investopedia, 12 Mar. 2019, www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/040515/why-north-korea-south-korea-are-separated.asp.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 2006

Marshal, Tim. “Korea: A History Of The North-South Split.” Sky News,

https://news.sky.com/story/korea-a-history-of-the-north-south-split-10449691

Szczepanski, Kallie. “How Korea Split Into North Korea and South Korea.” ThoughtCo,

Sophia Paul

Ms. Pahomov

ENGL 2

21 March 2019

Lord of the Flies Essay

Human nature digs deep into the actions that someone takes and asks, What leads to people’s actions? In the novel  Lord of the Flies by William Golding, there are a group of boys that are stranded on an island without any adults. They start out civil, but after they started killing pigs for food, they became more savage. They killed the pigs and hunted the pigs in a very barbaric way. How the boys on the island act mirrors similar primitive tendencies that people still possess such as Black Friday shoppers. The pig hunt in the book is essential for survival  but it is also how they show their true colors. Jack wanted to kill the pig the most and more excited with the fact he killed the pig than the protein he could get from the pig. When Jack killed his first pig he says, “'I cut the pig's throat,’ said Jack, proudly, and yet twitched as he said it...said Jack, laughing and shuddering, ‘you should have seen it,’” (69). Jack’s reaction to this revealed a dark truth of how people are fulfilled with pride when they have the ability to dominate and slaughter another being. Furthermore, when he killed the pig, he felt so proud and he wanted to tell everyone about his “prize.” After killing the first pig the reader could see that Jack reveals how it is human nature to have a desire of domination. A modern phenomenon that mirrors this is Black Friday where people go drastic measures in the pursuit of getting a financial discount.  This reflects Jack’s outburst because, once a buyer gets the deal, it makes them feel accomplished. According to a website article, today.com, they stated, “‘This is how they win and they are proud of it. ...it’s a symbol of their prowess,’ ” Within this quote, it explains how good it feels when the buyer wins. When the guy gets 50% off his flat screen T.V. and he gets to bring it up and put it in his house, it is a symbol of pride. That buyer is able to show the world that he “won” Black Friday. And even if the buyer had to shove someone out of the way or push pass people to get to the television, the buyer does not care. The same ideas are in Lord of the Flies. When Jack kills the pig, he gets so excited and giddy like he just won the prize. He was laughing and couldn't wait to tell the other boys about the kill. He does not think about what he just did, he just celebrated. Both of these examples show that even after doing an evil deal, it doesn’t matter because the reward is so worth it.

Emotions play a role into the actions of what characters in the book do. At the beginning of the book, Jack was trying to kill a pig, but failed. Due to him being  unable to kill the pig, he got very upset and angry. In the book, it stated, “He snatched his knife out of the sheath and slammed it into a tree trunk. Next time there would be no mercy,” (31). Jack became  upset that he was unable to kill the pig. He was in front of all of the kids and he was not picked chief, so he wanted to prove himself. Due to his inability instead, he slammed his knife into the tree in frustration. The boys knew that next time he would not hold back; he would have no mercy. Moreover, felt that his inability reflected his lack of worth as a person due to the pig escaping, which lead to his wrath after killing it. Jack’s frustration with being unable to slaughter a pig also reflects Black Friday shoppers. During Black Friday, people can also be emotional. When they get their prize, they feel so proud and happy, but when they don’t they get enraged. In an article from pbs.org, “...participants ... who had an emotional response to the scenarios, whether negative or positive, were more likely to be willing to engage in consumer misbehavior,”. A study was done to see how different consumers acted during Black Friday. More customers that are emotional are more likely to do bad things. If a buyer went  into Walmart to buy a television 50% off and someone else took the t.v. from him, he got emotional. And once the customer gets mad, they will most respond with physical violence. If another consumer gets in the buyer's way, the buyer will have a higher chance to show the consumer out of the way. This concept is seen within Lord of the Flies. When Jack didn’t kill his pig, he got very enraged and that was one of the causes that led him to kill more pigs and kill two of the boys on the island. After the emotions come through and the control the person, genuine human nature of the person is seen.

After harsh events, people are exposed to how they will act next. Jack and his hunts showed how he had fun killing and taking the life out of creatures and how little he cares about what he did. Black Friday shoppers do not care about the safety of the other shoppers and are only trying to get their product by any means possible. The feeling of winning is strong, but the feeling of losing is even stronger because that feeling will grow and grow until they win. These events are revealing the brutal and crude side of man hide that lays just beneath our surface.

Works Cited

Lee, Jaeha. On Black Friday, the Psychology of Retail Rage. PBS, Public Broadcasting Service,  

24 Nov. 2017, www.pbs.org/newshour/science/why-black-friday-leads-shoppers-to-behave-bonkers.

Vivinetto, Gina. Why Do We Do It? The Psychology behind Black Friday Madness.  

TODAY.com, TODAY, 27 Nov. 2015, www.today.com/health/madness-crowds-psychology-behind-black-friday-t58096.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 2006

Isabella Torres

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

24 March 2019

Unity Within a Community

The difference of opinions are everywhere and there will be disagreements with every topic. Sometimes, they can be talked over and solved, but other times these opinions can escalate to new levels. In the novel, The Lord of The Flies written by William Golding, a group of young british boys crash on an island and they divide between two groups. One was civilized and they followed moral rules, while the other group was savage and did murderous things, the group as a whole was not on the same page. The separation of a unity of people will cause havoc for everyone involved.

When the boys first started to set up camp, only Ralph and Simon were making their huts on the beach and they felt like the only ones who were responsible. Everyone else was having fun and playing games and no one was helping out Simon and Ralph build huts. Ralph exclaimed to Simon, “‘The older ones aren’t much better. D’you see? All day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing.”” (50). From the beginning of the novel, the boys were disagreeing and they were not all there to help one another out. Ralph was voted chief of all the boys and Jack, the other candidate, didn’t agree with Ralph being leader. At this point in the book, all the boys are still together but Jack and his choir boys separated themselves from Ralph’s small party. Slowly but surely, tensions between Jack’s group and Ralph’s group began to grow. Jack and his group were more focused on having fun rather than being practical and help build shelters with Ralph. They had different agendas on what they planned to do on the island. when there is opposition within the group of boys, the bonds start to break and issue start to form.

The Founding Fathers of the US government had some disagreements with how the government ran and who had the most power overall. Some of the founders wanted congress to have the most power while others preferred if the other central branches had more power.  On umbc.edu, they say “A debate thus ensued, between the Federalist side, led by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, and the Anti Federalists, led by Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, over exactly how much power and authority to give Congress and the other central branches of the new government.” They did not know how to make their decision. Soon after, the small disagreement the Founding Fathers came up with a solution that they agreed on, which resulted in our Bill of Rights and our Constitution. To this day, the American government is still run on this agreement made 200 years ago. Some disagreements work out for the best, while some result for the worse. Unfortunately, within the novel, the clashing of different ideas did not result in the well being of everyone on the island. Disagreements are very common and can either end peacefully or can end with even more bickering.

Towards the end of their time on the island, Jack decided to split himself from the main group because he disagreed with Ralph’s priorities. Ralph was not focused on killing another pig while that was the only thing Jack cared about. Jack said, “I’m going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too” (127). Jack was focused on killing the beast the boys claimed to see the night before on the mountains. Jack wanted to officially kill the beast so the boys could be safe and have nothing to worry about. Jack did not want to negotiate with Ralph and try to help the whole group out. Instead, Jack wanted to focus on himself and his goal to kill the pig.

In 1787, the founding fathers were deciding who would have the most power within the US government. Scholastic.com says the first ever political groups in America, “Hamilton and other leaders who wanted a strong central government banded together to put over their policies…. they began calling themselves the Federalists. This was the first United States political party… Anti-Federalists gathered … members of Jefferson's group called themselves Democratic-Republicans.” Some experts say that these extreme parties are not helping anyone and leave the entire country in a grip. Thehill.com says, “ Each side is more extreme, and each bases their political agenda on demonizing the other side” and the boys on the island do the same thing. Jack is reluctant to try and meet in the middle with Ralph, which turns Jack to go extremely savage and further from being civilized. Both of their situations would have ended drastically if things were different.

Splitting into separate idea groups can interfere with the unity of the whole community. Just as Jack went to the extremes of being in the wild, the political parties become extreme opposite ends of the spectrum. Sometimes groups don’t always hold and not everyone has the same goal in the end. They either pull through and have a common ground, or they fall apart and all humanity is lost.

Works Cited Page

Flanders, Stephen. "The Origins and Functions of Political Parties." Scholastic. 2007. 25 Mar. 2019 <https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/origins-and-functions-political-parties/>.

Berg, Sean. "Founding Fathers Essays (Examples)." Founding Fathers Essays: Examples, Topics, Titles, & Outlines. 25 Mar. 2019 <https://www.paperdue.com/topic/founding-fathers-essays>.

Williams Paredes

Ms. Pahovom

English 2

25, March 2019

Fear is something that everyone has, but it's not always rational. People often hear things that influence their mindset, causing them to overthink and make their fear stronger than it was in the first place. In Golding's novel, the idea of a mythical ´beast’ instilled fear into the boys of the island. They used the idea the beast to entertain themselves. Fear is something that everyone inevitably feels, but In ´Lord of the Flies´ they chose to have it.

Cops are known for pulling over people at traffic stops, and they would give the people tickets or they wouldn't, but in this case, there were no tickets envoy. The cops were reportedly trying to figure out if the passenger had a restraining order against the driver of the vehicle. The passenger that was 61 years old, named Paul Askins, would give his name or date of birth to the police officers and this made the cops worry and he was asked to step out of the vehicle. “This is how he engaged us," said the police officers. Paul Askins pulled out a pistol and fired at the cops, this caused the cops to fire back as they fear for their lives. As you can see this quote is telling us that the cops had a clear view of what was happening and with the fear of death the cops step back and fired as soon as they could. The cops weren't injured but the fear of death was what made them act as quick as possible, Paul askins was injured but he did survive.

As the kids were planning the kill the beast, their was feared in their eyes because they didn’t know what they were going up against and this made them feel weak. They had to bring hope to everyone in the island so that they  had a chance to live. To bring hope they started to say ‘’Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!’’(152). This quote is trying to show that the kids are trying to show that they are no longer scared of the beast. This is what brings hope to the kids in the island and to show that they have a chance to kill the beast and that they have hope to live for years to come without a problem. When Simon finds out the beast was not real, he tries to worn the rest of the kids, but when he got to the kids they thought he was the beast and that got him killed. The kids were scared and didn't even think because the fear took controller over them, so they acted as fast as they could.

In both of the book and real life example you can see that there is fear when the believe something is real and when they see someone pull out a weapon. They have fear no matter what but they choose to have it at this time, which made them over think over and over on what to do, this shows that they didn’t want to have fear they choose to have it so that they can be saved. In the Lord of the files, the kids thought they found a beast and they were thinking of what could it be and this is what Ralph said. ‘’But that’s littluns talk. We’ll get that straight. So the last part, the bit we can talk about, is kind of deciding on the fear’’(82).  When the old man got out of the truck this is what the cops started saying. ‘’ Get down, Get down’’. This show that that the kids had to show fear to overcome what that fear was and that is what made them stronger and what to keep that fear alway. When the cops said to get down they were trying to show that they can be save and to not try something stupid that will get them killed.

Towards the end of the book, Rock, Ralph, and piggy ventured into jack’s territory protesting that it wasn’t right for them to take piggy’s glasses. While they demand them to give it back, jack didn’t care and said no, and gets called a thief and reacted violently. Jack swung his spear at Ralph, but not in a menacing manner. In the quote, ‘’By common consent, they were using the spears as sabers now, no longer daring the lethal point’’ (177).  This is to use that they have power over people and that the kids should have fear for them because they have the weapon. They really don’t want to hurt one another, but the fear of losing power and scared of someone can cause them to fight.

In conclusion, The lord of the flies  tells us what fear is like if you were alone with kids and no adults. Lord  of the flies shows us that fear can bring power to kid, and they can’t do anything but just to go with it before it’s to late.  Lord of the flies show that kids need to learn to not be scared and to face your fears because if you don’t that can get you killed. Fear is something that people would never love to have because there are problems that come with it, but you have to choose it because fear can save you from all the problems that can come your way. Fear is something that everyone inevitably feels, but In ´Lord of the Flies´ they chose to have it.

Worked Cited-

Fedschun, Travis. “Man Pulls Gun on Colorado Deputies during Traffic Stop, Dramatic Body Camera Video Shows.” Fox News, FOX News Network, www.foxnews.com/us/man-pulls-gun-on-colorado-deputies-during-traffic-stop-dramatic-body-camera-video-shows.

Edition, Inside. “Cop Begs for Her Life After Fugitive Pulls Out Gun.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 Jan. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i86SUNFFzs.

Edition, Inside. “Cop Begs for Her Life After Fugitive Pulls Out Gun.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 Jan. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i86SUNFFzs.

Not everyone would be able to feel like they’re able to do what they want because the rules and people aren’t to their liking. In, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, most people decided to leave the group and made their own tribe because the previous one wasn’t working out for them. In America, people feel the same way since there’s a lot of criticism and misuse of power. If an entire civilization was able to adjust the rules to meet everyone’s standards, then no one would feel like they’re being exiled by the community or person in power because everyone is satisfied.

In, Lord of the Flies, Jack was the first person who decided to leave the group. At first, he held a meeting to see who wanted him to be the new leader but no one voted for him. The book states, “‘I’m not going to be apart of Ralph’s lot ... I’m going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too’” (127). Jack was so frustrated to the point where he had to separate himself from the others. Ralph was the voted leader of the entire group but couldn’t make any decisions on his own or be brave enough to lead everyone. Jack’s version of a leader at the time was for someone to be brave, a hunter, and ... , but Ralph felt the complete opposite. No one had stood up for Jack which could’ve made him feel like everything was unfair.

In Aditi Khorana’s article, she talked about the story of how her family came to America as immigrants and that she was born here. She also talked about how her life had changed after the election. She said, “In the aftermath of the election, after living in this country for thirty-something years, I truly felt like an exile in my own country. Whatever misgivings, hurt and outrage had till then, largely resided underneath the surface, coming to the fore now and then, now erupted in the form of an uncontrollable moral outrage”. This is saying that now someone in power wants to completely stop more illegal immigrants/refugees from coming in and sending them out, that her family is now in pain. Now that they had made a new home, it’s trying to be taken away from them since they aren’t like everyone else. This relates to the book because ever since Ralph was elected and wasn’t doing his job the right way, Ralph felt like he didn’t fit in and someone else should’ve been elected.

In chapter 9 of the book, Jack held a feast for his tribe and whoever else wanted to join. Everyone in the original group besides a few people had left to go to his feast. The author says, “Even at that distance it was possible to see that most of the boys - perhaps all of the boys - were there” (147). Everyone had left Ralph because there wasn’t any meat and no one there were hunters. Jack’s tribe was filled with hunters and they had meat for everyone to eat. Even though Ralph was focused on getting off of the island, people still wanted to survive and have fun at the same time. This is connected to my thesis because once one person exploits the leader then whoever doesn’t like it would feel the need to leave.

In conclusion, if the rules were bent to benefit everyone, then no one would feel like they earned any power. In the book Jack was the first to leave the tribe because he wasn’t voted for. In my real life example, Aditi felt like she didn’t belong ever since Donald Trump got elected.

Karim mullen

Ms Pahomov

English 2

25, march 2019

The book Lord Of The Flies tells a story about how a plane crashed and the only survivors were young boys. The young boys came together and voted for a leader, ,Ralph. Initially, Ralph played his part as the leader, by calling meetings, giving positions, and even keeping everyone in order. However he let the leadership position inflate his ego job get to his head which results in poor decisions. Eventually this led to his peers overrule him and create chaos. When someone is given power they feel as though their power overrides the perspective of anyone that may be affected by their actions`.Savagery is reflected upon the rights or the wrongdoings of a meaningful altercation.

President Donald Trump of the United States signed a law ensuring the shutdown for the pay of all government workers. This is because Trump felt as though if he cuts government employees pay, he could focus more on building a wall so that Immigrants from Mexico cannot enter the country. In the CNN Politics article it talks about how the citizens of the US who works for the government are working for free, they don't have any way of paying bills or keeping there houses, cars, or kids together. They also are being forced to work because if they don't go to work they still will get fired. By doing so they will not only be unemployed but, for the days they worked, they will not  get the checks back when the shutdown is over. So many people would call out sick that they would make people come in anyway because they didn't have enough people to work. No One agrees with this shutdown, not even his own staff. He fired some of his employees because they spoke their opinion on some of the poor/self-centered decisions he made. For this example you can tell that Donald Trump obviously makes poor decisions.

In this scene, Ralph wasn't exactly being the best leader he could be. “Ralph didn't know what to do and he was captain, No one did” (15). In certain situation, Ralph didn't know what to do, and some of the reasons could be because of his age. This is important because towards the end when of the story when they needed a leader the most Ralph didn't have anything to offer. So Jack stepped up and got the other kids to gang up on Ralph because he persuaded the other boys that he would be the better leader. The kids didn't know that Jack would turn out to be the worst leader they could have. The only chance the boys have really of getting rescued was from a signal fire. “ We’ve got to have special people for looking after the fire”(42), those special people were Sam,Eric, and the Choir.“ There was a ship. Out there. You said you'll keep the fire going and you let it out”(70). Jack never wanted to leave the island, therefore he extinguished the fire so that the boat wouldn't see the smoke in the air. Throughout the book Jack made decisions that wasn't his place of making begins though Ralph was the actual leader. Jack was too comfortable because Ralph couldn't never take charge over jack so basically he did as he felt. “I was chief, and you were going to do what i said”(132). Ralph started to get furious at him, but Jack still did as he pleased “ All right. Light the fire”(120) said with sarcasm.

Donald trump is taking kids away from their families and locking them in cages due to the fact of them being illegal immigrants. In his eyes he feels as though immigrants are dirty and stealing people's jobs even though they are trying to make a living for a better. As stated in the USA Today newsletter it talks about how Trump compares immigrants to dirty filthy animals. This is important because he's splitting families up because they are living here illegally, some people have tried to become citizen. It can take years for you to become a citizen, not because they were not living in the US long enough but just because of the simple fact that their request could still be pending therefore not able to get there Green card. There are millions of people out there that still are waiting to be declared citizen and get their green card but because they are technically not citizens Trump is splitting there families up.

This is compared to the boys in the story due to them being separated in groups, and the older boys had more power than the younger boy. Which is reflected upon the actions of Trump being the division of the immigrants and the documented people. While the boys leaders felt that one was higher than the other due to the opportunities that they could pursue.”Seems to me we ought to have chief to decide things”(22). Throughout the story the leader role was played from both Ralph and Jack, the two would have problem with each other throughout the book because they both thought they were the best leader for the boys. “ Ralph is like piggy. He says things like piggy. He isn't a proper leader”(144). Not only did they not really like eachother but they would talk about each other to the other kids and each other. Ralph would talk about how he is the leader to the others, and Jack would try and persuade the others to pick him as the new leader.

Camren Jones

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

25 March 2019

In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, he tells a story about how a group of young boys are stranded on an island due to a plane crash and create their own society to create peace among them, or so they thought. As more and more time passes the young boys' structured society slowly begins to fall apart. Their society quickly becomes total chaos as violence and disputes are prevalent. As a result of their society quickly they divide themselves, which ended up backfiring Characters such as Piggy who appeared weak were often belittled leaving them to feel abandoned. While never explicitly being revealed, many scholars argue William Golding utilized symbolism through Lord of the Flies. Furthermore, upon reading this one can make the case Golding used the boys' interactions to draw comparisons to the real world such as Uzbekistan governed by Islam Karimov.

One of the earliest moments in Lord of the Flies introduction of a chubby young boy. He later was referred to as Piggy as an insult and called this for the rest of the novel. Piggy eventually grew close to Ralph, the original leader. They bonded over the feeling of alienation from their peers. However, once the boys began to form different opinions they drifted apart. The ridiculing of both Ralph and Piggy begins once Piggy says, “What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? What’s grownups going to think?”(91). Following this, a hunter Jack created a division between the other boys and Ralph. Maintaining his loyalty Piggy stood his ground with Ralph despite what others thought. Compared to the others Piggy’s ideas weren’t as drastic. Piggy says “Just an ordinary fire. You’d think we could do that, wouldn’t you? Just a smoke signal so we can be rescued. Are we savages or what?”(174). Even though a lot of Piggy’s actions were motivated by the desire of being accepted it didn’t stop him from making valid points. He knew that they weren’t going to be able to stay on the island forever so he thought ahead. Piggy was very methodical with the way he moved and how he thought things out, and since many of them were young it stops them from looking at the bigger picture causing them to ridicule the first person who thought differently. Piggy and Ralph lost all power in their society because they didn’t agree with others which later led to his death.

Similar to Piggy and Ralph, a writer named Hamid Ismailov was cast out due to his debatable beliefs. Ismailov was a writer who lived in Uzbekistan once he was recruited for a controversial freelance job with BBC. He later was informed that the government wasn’t too happy with his choice of work. He knew he had to leave but what he didn’t know is that it would result in him never coming home again. He was aware of the vile acts committed by dictator Islam Karimov he understood in order to remain safe the best choice was to leave his home. After he left there was no trace of him ever being there. People were desensitized to Karimov’s cruel actions and neglected the injustice Ismailov had received. According to the Guardian, Hamid Ismailov was completely removed from the Uzbek culture. His work is no longer published nor are the people allowed to use the words “Hamid Ismailov” in print without suffering the consequences.

Both Piggy and Ismailov feared for their lives because of their choice to speak in opposition to their leadership. In Lord of the Flies, Piggy was killed and Ismailov would’ve been too if he had stayed. They weren’t afraid which caused their leadership to feel threatened and attempt an assassination. Without fear Jack and Islam Karimov were powerless and he knew which resulted in their resentment towards Ismailov and Piggy. It was their only leverage over the others. After the death of Piggy, the young boys' hands were no longer clean. Golding illustrates this by saying “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy”. Unlike the death of Simon, which was accidental, the death of Piggy was done with intent to kill. Throughout the book, Piggy was somewhat a balance that kept them from turning completely savage.

The difference between the two societies is that Ismailov knew what his people were capable but in Piggy’s case, he didn’t.  Piggy was aware of the fact that not everyone on the island would be to avoid the temptations of savagery but he didn’t know that his death would also relate to the death of their humanity. The risky thoughts of both Piggy and Ismailov caused them misery because their leader felt challenged.
Many ideas emerged from the Lord of the Flies such as one not being allowed to express how they feel. In the real world scenario, I related it to Piggy’s death due to their similarities. They both were removed from their environment one more drastic than the other but it was because of their leader feeling challenged. The fact that their leaders weren’t fond of their beliefs they dismissed.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies, New York: Penguin, 2006.

M., Morris. “10 Tragic Tales Of Modern People Forced Into Exile.” Listverse, 29 Dec. 2018,

listverse.com/2015/06/24/10-tragic-tales-of-modern-people-forced-into-exile/.

“Hamid Ismailov.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Mar. 2019,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamid_Ismailov.

Michaela Berger

Ms. Pahomov

English 2

25 March 2019

Effects of Mental Illness

How does trauma affect everyone in different ways? In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of boys experience a series of events that lead to chaos among them. After a devastating plane crash, several boys aged 6 to about 12 must learn to survive on an island with no adults and thus no authority. From this crash, the boys’ emotions change and their behavior begins to reflect it. Their experiences on the island caused the boys to become vulnerable, crude, and even violent. A traumatic event can lead to mental and emotional illnesses, which may affect their relationships with other people.

To begin, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a mental illness where a person has behavioral or emotional issues recovering from a traumatic event. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in an article about PTSD in children, symptoms of children with PTSD include acting helpless, hopeless or withdrawn, and nightmares and sleep problems. If they have PTSD, performing tasks, like interacting with others or doing something independently can become difficult. This is especially if they do not have access to treatment. A world health report done in 2001 by the World Health Organization (WHO) states that only one-third of all of the people diagnosed with mental disorders seek treatment. The majority of the time, it is because of the stigma of having a mental illness. People affected with illnesses like PTSD do not want to be judged or have others know that they go to therapy because of a mental illness they have. Other times, it is due to limited access or not being able to afford treatment. If people are not treated or do not have access to treatment, their symptoms will only worsen. Their mental and emotional health could deteriorate. In children, their actions and relationships with both adults and other children can take a drastic, negative turn.

In Golding’s novel, the boys begin to experience symptoms of PTSD from their plane crash. Specifically, their behavior reflects several of the more common ones as told by the CDC such as sleepwalking, nightmares, and vulnerability. For example, the younger boys on the island who are around six years old, show signs of sleep issues. This is witnessed by Jack, Ralph, and Simon, “They dream. You can hear ‘em… They talk and scream. The littluns,” (Golding 52). When Ralph says this, he demonstrates how the “littluns” are showing a common symptom of PTSD. Since the littluns are very young, they have a limited understanding of the severity of the plane crash compared to what the older boys know. Another consequence of their young age is that they have a different perception of the intensity of events. The littluns’ upset behavior and vulnerable actions show they are experiencing anxiety because of what happened in the plane crash.

A person diagnosed with PTSD often experiences emotional management issues. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs notes that a common symptom of PTSD is stress and anger. Having this accumulated anger can affect other people. Anger is reported to be a very common response to trauma. Temperament helps release some of the negative feelings a person with PTSD may have and helps them cope with stress. However, using anger as a main coping strategy will rarely help in the long run. Someone who resorts to solving problems with anger will use this method more often, which can lead to longer and more intense rages. It will affect other’s opinions of that person because they use their temper as an outlet. For example, U.S. veterans often experience PTSD, especially symptoms of anger. A helpguide.org article notes how anger corresponds to the fight or flight response veterans get (Smith et al). The rush of adrenaline gives them energy, so they need to blow off steam or become rageful. They are on guard at all time, which especially causes this irritability. It can prevent veterans from getting jobs, which can later lead to homelessness. Not only does this anger affect other people, but it affects how they live.

Using anger as a coping mechanism is a common trait among the boys in Lord of The Flies. Jack, the self-designated head of the hunters, often uses the rageful coping method to deal with some of the stressors of being on the island. Golding describes Jack’s angry actions, “Then Jack leapt to his feet, slashed off a great hunk of meat, and flung it down at Simon's feet. ‘Eat! Damn you!’ He glared at Simon,” (74). This quote reveals some of the aggression portrayed by the character Jack. He was angered by the actions of the other characters, but also faced some internal struggle. Although he uses yelling at the boys to show them the kind of power he has, he is really doing it because of the trauma he experienced from the plane crash. Jack releases his frustration on the boys as a way to cope with this stress. His anger affects his fellow hunters in order to get them to work together, even if it is intimidating. Early in the book, he asserts his dominance with sternness, which leads to him having some power over the boys. Contrary to what the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says, using this assertiveness causes people to want to follow him. Although it does intimidate the boys and come off as rude, Jack is able to form a cohesive group of boys with similar, angry motives.

To conclude, a traumatic event can really affect one’s actions and relationships. It can have a negative impact on their mental and emotional health. When a traumatic event happens, the ones who experience it can have impacted behavior and even sleep issues. It affects the people surrounding the victim and can eventually hurt the environment they are in. Mental illnesses like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder impact so many individuals, yet very little is done about it. Only a fraction of the people diagnosed yearly is treated. Mental health issues are so often overlooked when it really affects so many people today.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 2006

“Mental Disorders Affect One in Four People.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 29 July 2013, www.who.int/whr/2001/media_centre/press_release/en/.

“National Center for PTSD.” PTSD, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 3 Aug. 2018, www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/related/anger.asp.

“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Feb. 2016, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml.

“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children | CDC.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 Mar. 2019, www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/ptsd.html.

Smith, Melinda, et al. “PTSD in Military Veterans.” HelpGuide.org, Oct. 2018, www.helpguide.org/articles/ptsd-trauma/ptsd-in-military-veterans.htm/.

Introduction: The goal of this essay was to touch on the universal feeling of not being good enough when we compare ourselves to people more successful than ourselves. I am most proud of my scene of memory and the way it flows with my larger idea. I think this scene of memory provides solid evidence for my theme. For future essays, I would like to allow for more time during the revision phase, so I can better pinpoint the details of the essay and make sure that everything connects more smoothly and flawlessly.

Everyone has people whom they look up to. People whose lives they wish they lived, people whose dreams came true, people who seem to be comfortable with themselves and well-liked. But sometimes by looking up to someone, we find ourselves comparing ourselves to them and putting ourselves down. Growing up, I never felt the desire to be anything that I’m not. As time has passed, the expectations that existed for me became increasingly apparent. The notion that I should be more successful than I am, more beautiful, and more talented is deeply embedded in my mind as I continued to see other people as those things.

In a Ted Talk by Thandie Newton, she speaks about identity and her sense of self in relation to others, stating, “The self likes to fit, to see itself replicated, to belong. That confirms its existence and its importance … Without it, we literally can’t interface with others. We can’t hatch plans and climb that stairway of popularity, of success” (July 2011). The idea that people yearn to see themselves replicated shows that this is an instinctual need that we have to find common ground with others while being successful. This is significant because although this feeling is human nature, we continue to put ourselves down and feel inferior when we fail to belong. I often wish I could climb this stairway of success faster when I see those close to me near the top step.

My brother is two years older than me, and I’ve begun to live in the shadow cast by his superiority. Having an older sibling hasn’t always caused me so much anguish. I’ve always looked up to him, but I didn’t expect that childish admiration to haunt me into adolescence. The day he received his ACT score was a happy day for our family. He came home and announced to my parents his near-perfect score, that would later see his acceptance to almost every college he applied to. Quietly, he said, “I got a thirty-five.” The message was delivered with modesty, but my parents escalated the situation. He isn’t one to gloat. Eyes wide, smiles began to spread across my parent’s faces as they embraced my brother, congratulating him. Reluctantly, he joined in the celebration, even showing a smile himself; a rarity for him to let us see his own pride. I stood in the corner, knowing that my congratulations would mean little to him, but I risked being reprimanded if I didn’t express my support. “Congrats, Victor,” I said. The words came out dryly, almost killing the joyous moment. “Thanks,” he replied; this safe response acting as a shield between him and me. At that moment, his success meant something much different to me than it did to him or my parents. To them, it was a moment of sheer pride and elation for him and for their progress in parenting. For me, however, this moment brought about a sinking fear in my head, telling me that I would never live up to my brother. That I would never make my parents nearly as proud as he had, try as I might.

This feeling of inadequacy is ubiquitous and it brings about the questions, will we ever overcome it? Will we ever be satisfied with who we are? In the same Ted Talk, Newton speaks about the formation of identity. She states, “At some point in early babyhood, the idea of self starts to form. Our little portion of oneness is given a name, is told all kinds of things about itself, and these details, opinions, and ideas become facts, which go towards building ourselves, our identity…But the self is a projection based on other people’s projections. Is it who we really are?” This idea that self is simply a projection is important to note because it not only shows that the expectations that others have for us make us strive to be a certain way. It also relates to the need we feel to compare ourselves to people who are more successful in meeting these expectations.

This instinct to want what others have and to be what others are is universal, and it functions as a sort of cycle. Using my brother’s success and my feelings of inferiority as motivation has allowed me to recognize my own different forms of adequacy and success. In order to maintain peace of mind, we must unlearn the inclination to compare ourselves. By focusing not on what others require of us, and instead striving for what we see as important, we can create our own stairways of success.

When I was young I lived in a neighborhood where no one struggled for money. For a while that was my family too. I lived in a two parent home with two incomes, we were not rich but we were okay. When I was three years old my father left my family. My mom had money she had saved and she thought we would be okay. In the span of one day we had gone from a stable family to having nothing. My father drained the bank accounts and took all the money my mother had worked hard to save. We had nothing left. Living in the suburbs of northern virginia I knew we didn’t have as much money as everyone else. This gave me a sense of feeling out of place. Everyone had the video games and they had name brand food in their lunches. I know my mom did her best to make me and my siblings not feel like we were on the outside.

Other kids in the same grade as me wore name brand clothing while my clothes came from the thrift store up the street. My mom did her best to hide that we were broke. I remember days where we would walk or the neighbor would bring us to school because the car had a boot on it. The lights went out many times because my mother couldn’t pay the bill on time. At the time I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know we had as little as we did.

I’m not going to say my early childhood was hard for me , it wasn’t it was harder for my mom. I knew that everything could have been a lot worse. Sure we had to empty the change jar we kept by the front door to buy food, and the lights did get turned off a few times. My mother worked so hard to make sure we had everything we needed. She made sure we were fed, clean, and dressed well everyday. Your upbringing is a main part of the way you turn out and who you are. Being broke, being comfortable  or being rich has an effect on who you are. There are people you can tell have never struggled for money or people who have never heard the words “we can’t afford it” before. There are people who you know had some struggle or are still struggling to make ends meet. All of this shapes who you become. Similar to how Gatsby put on this fake persona to get people to like him, that's what I was doing. I acted like we could afford all the same things that other kids in my gadre could. I tried so hard to fit in with the wealthy kids, i wanted the sense of belonging that came along with being wealthy.

The people with money turn out many different ways, humble, snobby, or entitled. The people who you know didn’t grow up with this cushioned lifestyle where they didn’t worry about paying rent know about the struggle of having to worry about how you’re going to eat or how you're going to pay the bills. Those people could turn out another variety of ways.  They could come up from having no money to being comfortable and gain that entitlement that comes along with wealth, or they could know where they come from and stay as they were.

I myself, have had and still have my fair share of struggles in my life. When people look at me they think that I am a white girl who had had everything handed to me and life has been easy. I know in my heart that everything has not been easy for me and that I have had to work harder than half of the people who look at me and tell me I have had everything handed to me. I

Being so young when this happened definitely made it much easier for me. Eight year olds didn't care so much about the clothes you wore or if you had fancy shoes. What got to me the most was the fact that I saw the hurt in my mother. I knew she was trying her best and doing everything she could to keep us happy. Beloning was important  to me. I began to belong less and less and this truly took a toll on me. The person I am was majorly shaped by living where I did when my family lost everything.

The purpose of my essay was to not only explain my emotions during this time period but to be able to explain to myself what happened in this situation. I am very proud of myself for just even getting the paper done because this was a very stressful thing to write and not a very easy process. But also my analysis and how in-depth I went. In the future I see myself getting way better in my writing process by asking for more peer edits because that's what really helps the essay, by one getting more than one opinion.

I´d consider myself raised in a respected home and as my mother would say ¨ We had good home training¨. We were very traditional in many aspects. My parents wanted us to know where we came from a part of that was knowing the language. I was thankful for that even though sometimes it didn't show. One thing that they wanted us to know was there was a God and he was above any other. We were Christians. But we were also Nigerian. We were Nigerian Christian. Christians that went to church each Sunday and they made sure we were rooted in the word of God. I was considered a good Christian child up until a certain point. Then I decide to be different, I decided I didn't want to be this idea of Nigerian Christian. Where the thought are going to church seem more like a punishment instead of something to look forward to.

I became  less interested in my culture and an even more hatred for my religion. When the topic of culture was brought up I would always switch it up, or when they would call on me to pray I´d say I didn't want to. Three was a disconnect. With those around me telling me that I had to pick side, I started to believe it. In the novel Americanah written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, she speaks about the judgment foreigners receive when they migrate to America. In the sections she explains her move to America and the different situations she had to endure to order to aline with the social norms. She writes, “Dear Non-American Black, when you make the choice to come to America, you become black. Stop arguing. Stop saying I'm Jamaican or I'm Ghanaian. America doesn't care.¨(187). With this, we start to see a larger idea of how immigrants of really viewed in society. We are often called a boiling pot but in reality, we are more like a salad because everything goes separately, each group has a group of their own. You can either find a middle ground or just or just lose part of yourself in order to gain from another. People feel the need to do this for acceptance; If they don't act like everyone else than can they really belong. This is very important because everyone wants to belong even someone like me. We live in a society that forces you to leave your own ideas in order to conform to the ideas of others. Society is afraid of the possibility that someone can ever be different so they stripe your labels, your identity and try to give you new ones.

It started to feel like I was living a double life. I was a different person depending on who was around. Like any normal teenager, I was going through a ¨midlife crisis teen edition¨. In the novel The Lies That Bind Rethinking Identity by Kwame Anthony Appiah, he speaks on the practice of his religion and the stages in which there are beliefs or even doubt in your faith. He says, “Every religion can be said to have three dimensions. Sure, there is a body of belief. But there’s also what you do-- call that the practice,” (36). This was the problem with religion and the reasons so many people stray from it because of these things called rules. There was a rule for everything there was a guildless you had to follow in order for you to even call yourself a Christian you have to live a certain lifestyle. The word half Christian is what I was. I began to pick and choose with rules I would follow and which rules to break. When we begin to break down this quote we see that you can't do one without the other. Yes, I would say I was Christians when people asked but I wasn't living the life a Christian would. This is where it hit me if I wanted to live a certain life I would have to make changes.

To end my story, it wasn’t easy on the journey to find not only who I was but also who I wanted to believe in. There was a process of self-discovery. In not only who I wanted to be but what was allowed of me. See that's the thing with the society we are so afraid of being different that we feel the need to be put into a box and if that box doesn't find correctly we find another because that's just the way society is. Society tells you, you are not normal until you have a label because we are so afraid of being different we feel we have to listen to them. But with knowledge comes understanding with that, I was able to understand that I didn't have to conform to these beliefs. It was only then that I was able to see why I was a Christian. A Nigerian Christian.

It was a cold Saturday night, the wind was blowing so hard you can hear it. It was December 30, 2017, and I was coming home from dance practice. I was in the car with my mom, dad, and one of my sisters. The car was so quiet, I decided to put my headphones in and listen to some music.

When I was jamming to my music, I notice that my mom had tears coming down her face. I quickly paused my music and asked, “Mom, why are you crying?”  

My dad said, “Wait until we get in the house.” When we got in the house, my mom sat on the couch and told me and my sister to “come here.” This is when my whole life had changed forever. My dad said: “Pop-Pop Kenny had died.” My heart stopped and I fell into my mom's arms and said: “Why it had to be him?”  Then I went upstairs and just sat in complete silence.

The following day was   I had to come to school and put on a mask to show that I wasn’t hurting or depressed. But that didn’t work because people kept asking if I was ok and I would respond, “Yes,” and kept on moving.

Because I was raised to be a man, I was taught to hide my emotions cause it shows weakness. I knew that this was tough for me cause when someone who you love dies then your emotions are raised really high. But my dad only said don’t show your emotions in public when your alone cause people will start to make fun of you.

Lenard Sax wrote in his New York Times article titled Many Boys Today Define Masculinity Negatively challenges us to think about how gender and masculinity affect our identity and how we express our emotions: “Being a real man means doing things that girls don’t do.” This quote is significant because it highlights the way that boys are being raised and raises questions if parents should change the way they raise their kids? I can relate to this quote because I have personal experiences on the way my parents have raised me. My dad specifically wouldn’t let me do anything a girl does and he always made sure that I only do what boys normally do.

Another idea related to boys and the idea of Masculinity is raised by Tim King. He wrote a New York Times article titled  Encourage Boys to Embrace Individuality, So They Can Respect It in Others and it is challenging the idea of how parent raised their kids: “When we mold our sons in the image of unrealistically rugged masculinity, they are encouraged to view girls through the lens of some idealized version of femininity.” This quote is significant because it highlights the reason why boys think and do things a certain way.  Also, it makes a realization of why the parents raise their children like this. Like for example when was growing up my parents always told me to respect everyone. And they said when you look at/talk female just know to be cautious of what you say because they will show you their emotions. So my parents taught me to respect all genders equally.

These ideals our young men short-sighted ad lost. What I mean by that is that we can't keep making boys think one-sided. As a society, we need to make sure that young men and children can accept who they are and what that means is that they don’t have to think of life as one thing when there are many aspects of life.  Masculinity isn’t formulated. You can mold and shape your kids the way you want to, but if you want them to become a better ma let them define what Masculinity for themselves.

Introduction

This essay is to show parts of social media that we never truly think about and to introduce how it can affect us from being human. I can’t say that I am happy or unhappy with this essay as I struggled with this hard and at the time this whole assignment was announced I was having a personal problem I couldn’t control at all so yeah. If anything I would want to just look back at this and just change my writing process entirely as I was not under my normal in-school influence and more personally distracted then normal.

Social media and online life is something we get easily hooked with. We use social media to listen to our favorite musicians/singers, we use it for personal pleasure, and we use it to interact with one another from very far away differences. It would be surprising if there was something we never use social media for. The only thing I have to say I was surprised to find out about the internet that people use it to make a memorial that should’ve been about a few days into an eternity.

We “find ourselves” online through either anonymous identities or names we either think are funny, representative, supportive, or realistic to ourselves and our interests to the internet forces us to makeup to use their services. We find those similar to us via filters and search bars that guide us to groups with other people that share our own believes, interests and culture. This one I am against doing for personal reasons but we also use social media to try and find our “Soulmate” for multiple reasons. We also use social media to quickly transfer money by using something like paypal or make money by streaming or uploading videos for the world to watch and donate if they wanted on Youtube and Twitch. Youtube and Twitch are more than ways to make money online but they are more easy to do, their bigger reason is to let people express themselves and their interests or (mostly)whatever its users want to show.

So this is when I learned social media was a unending memorial and these were two bits that I felt were quick to the point in “Ghosts in the Machine” by Jenna Wortham about her views of death and the internet. “Perhaps the most profound side effect is that death no longer obeys any laws of finality... When funneled through social media, death lingers longer than a traditional mourning period might call for”. So when I read this article and specifically these parts I was both surprised and confused. I was only surprised as I did not expect it and I was initially thinking that there was no way this was real. What confused me was why did people do this so long after the death of someone? There's no reason to keep going they’re gone, the time of grief is over, time to move on in life and let them rest. Not go to their twitter or facebook page every month and writing something about the person.

Now, this quote from Sherry Turkle in her article “Stop Googling. Let’s Chat” I understood apart of me that I didn’t expect to see and learn from me constantly using the internet whenever I can for personal entertainment “In 2010, a team at the University of Michigan led by the psychologist Sara Konrath put together the findings of 72 studies that were conducted over a 30-year period. They found a 40 percent decline in empathy among college students, with most of the decline taking place after 2000. Across generations, technology is implicated in this assault on empathy”. I just didn’t know what to think of me as a person as I have multiple different things of me that could be reasons of my own lack of empathy but I never thought about social media being a factor in it. When I think about it now I can think about bits and pieces of my life where I can see it visibly the lack of empathy but it was mainly for other reasons not just social media.

When it comes to the death of a relative I don’t feel anything for myself or for my family as the relatives that did die were those I either never heard of/forgotten about or those that I never had a true connection with but to try and think if that lack of empathy was because of my constant use of technology I just can’t think or just be in a complete mess in my head.

If I had to compare our use of social media I want to say smoking because it’s something we get addicted to thinking were fine as everyone else is doing it, that it’s legal in the nation, it relieves stress (to those that believe that). The one thing we never understand until it’s too late is how it affects us negatively. Sucking us of being human in the real world while we socialize on our phones even if we’re a few feet from each other.

The goal of my essay was to analyze the way other people affect ones sense of identity and how an individual is affected by the opinion of a mass. I am proud of some of the descriptions in my essay and finally expressing how I felt about this process in detail. I had never explained to myself why I wanted locs it just happened and I went with it. I feel like this essay starts to explain other aspects of my personality that might change with time.

In Beasts of the southern wild, everyone in The Bathtub was happy with the life they had, they still lived in fear of those who were superior, they had nowhere to go but where they were. They knew that people would tell them where they lived was unsafe, or how they lived was disgusting but they were adapted to that lifestyle so outsiders would not understand. The way they lived worked for them, it was not meant or made to work for anybody else. Anyone coming into a community will not understand how that community works if they have already had exposure to another one, there is an immediate bias.

¨I´m apart of a big big universe and I make things right¨Hushpuppy says this all throughout the movie, she is saying her people created balance and variety and without that the community would fall apart because everything has an equal or opposite reaction. When they left, everything went out of control and everyone was forced to adjust in a way that did not necessarily work for them. Everyone had an opinion on what they should be doing but for everyone´s well being everything has to fit together just right so it does not matter if something is different it is necessary.

¨When you ask me am I really a woman, a human being,

a coherent identity, I’ll say No, I’m something else

like that though. ¨

A poem by Joshua Jennifer Espinoza speaks to people finding one aspect of a person then assuming their entire identity. Everyone is a combination of different traits, and a product of their environment. No black person has all the stereotypical traits, you can be black but be articulate or have no rhythm. It does not make you less black. In this poem the artist is separating herself from a group and becoming an individual. She is defining herself before going out into the world, if this happens then no one can tell you who you are or are not.

Sweatpants sitting on my thighs while my converse hugged my toes. My two aunts pick up pace behind me. The soles of my shoes shed rubber against tar, I reach the sidewalk and open the door. The wide salon greets me with aerosol clouds and clumps of hair sitting on the floor. Two brown skinned women with butterscotch locs smile and look to me. ¨Are you ready?¨ They each ask one after the other. They were beautiful no doubt, earthly goddesses but is their hair journey right for me? I forced a laugh and flashed a smile to my aunts, I had already asked for this as a birthday gift. The appointment was made, money ready to be spent, in about two hours there would be no turning back.

My feet found their way around and next thing I knew I was sitting i the waiting room. The salon was beautiful, the hair dressers were gorgeous, but only two had locs. Sza sings in the background as I constantly replay my mothers words,

¨You look awful, from now on you will either loc your hair or wear extensions¨

I never liked extensions or the feeling of artificial on natural. I loved my lions mane no matter how many times my grandmother unsuccessfully tried to tame it.

I don´t think I realized what was happening while it happened, I only went through motions.

I stand up. My feet led my legs somewhere. I sat down. Hands rushed through my hair, met with water. Everything stopped. I look up.

A lady with long brazilian bundles in a ponytail grasped my curls

¨So why do you wanna get locs?¨

My eyes started to dart around the salon, the bounced off the lights, away from her, onto the wall, over to the shampoos, I was seemingly searching for an answer to her question. It shouldn´t be that difficult I´m already here, my heart speeds up, I stutter,

do I actually want to be here? It doesn´t matter I already am I flush out fear and push words out.

¨Oh yeah, ummm my aunts have locs, and they look nice.¨ Honestly at that point I knew I sounded stupid, but that was the only other reason other than

my mother wanted me to. Brazilian bundles set out a soft breath with a smile, I guess it was imitating a laugh.

¨You have beautiful hair.¨ She wasn't the only person who had told me that. Less than 24 hours ago my older cousin pleaded with me not to get locs.

¨You´re so pretty why would you want locs?¨ I greeted but not welcomed her question with silence. Countless people had opinions about my hair, one boy had texted me ¨don´t get locs, it will mess up your curl pattern¨ as if he was an expert on hair types, he uses Cantu on his hair so his current curl pattern is already messed up, but moving on. I guess I would just get locs then end up loving them on me.

I followed Brazilian Bundles to a salon chair, as a woman a little taller than me slides into my peripheral vision. Her locs came to her clavicle, she had been growing them for some time. Her overall energy was welcoming, I felt more at ease starting my locs with someone who had them, but not all the way.

Sitting in her slippery salon chair, my feet dangled reminding me that it would be hard to escape this. So there was the artist, the stylist, with a tangled mess before her, my hair. Before she begun, I saw three different tools, loc styling gel, a fine rat tail comb, then scissors. My stomach tightened, turned rock solid no one has ever cut my hair before. Sure it was not super long because of how I brushed it and how my hair always shed, but scissors were never put to it. In a matter of seconds my hair went from shoulder length (with shrinkage) to earlobe length.

Why did you need to cut it? I steadily repeated in my head. I did not know what to do with short hair. My stylist, LaRhea took the rat tail comb, parted a section, then completed it by twisting the comb. She was careful but quick.

¨Please don´t revert this process¨ she said to me when she had finished. Meaning follow her instructions to maintain my hair until the next time we met. And I did. I saw her every month for the next year to retwist my locs until I found someone new.

¨Oh my gosh¨ squealed my aunt and my older cousin in unison as they walked into the salon to pick me up. ¨You look so cute¨

I smiled at the compliment longing for inches of my hair, not completely believing it.

For days I had wanted to untwist my starter locs, but day after day I became more accepting of them until my hair was fully locked.

In a TEDTALK Thandie Newton proposes this thought ¨We each have a self, but I don´t think we´re born with one.¨ The idea here is that we grow into ourselves as time goes on. When we are born, we each have a physical body but as we get older we start to make choices for our own concept of self, from those decisions comes a personality then that´s where you come in as a self. Everyone has some sense of who they are or want to be but no one ever has the concrete knowledge. People project certain energy and everyone is a product of their environment. Often we change to please others.

If we challenged the system more maybe it would not reject us as much, we would not be outcasts or forced to fit in a box. If we were to fight against the dominant culture all the time we would be exhausted so we should question who we are but choose in which ways we challenge the system/expectations when necessary.

Ever since I was little, I have had to get used to being a twin.  My parents would always refer to us as “the twins,” but let’s get something straight, we are entirely different. My twin, Justin, has always been known to catch onto things more quickly then I have been. I have always had a hearing problem that has dentified me to struggle more than Justin has. I have to try harder than Justin, but we usually end up achieving the same goal. I don’t think I struggled more than Justin has at all, but the thought that other people thought that had taught me to learn how to work harder. My past experiences have created my identity, including my self-worth, learning from other people’s mistakes, and accepting the fact that everything isn’t always going to work out the way I want it too.

Throughout my years of education, Justin was always placed in higher classes even though I  always had to spend a lot more time studying. Since I knew that my brother was able to catch onto things more easily when I was little, I have always been eager to get to the same level as him. In the article Twin Study the author says, “I knew what Samantha was going to say before she said it, and I knew which boys she’d like before she met them, and we always got up at the same time in the night to pee, among other uncanny similarities.”  In this article, we learn about a girl who is a twin and is identifying the specific things that she realizes her sister does. Samantha and her sister are a great example of twins growing up together, and it was clear that they would become close and know each other really well. That relates to Justin and my relationship because just as Samantha was able to recognize certain things that created her identity from being a twin, I have too by understanding the things that Justin has done well. Justin and I also know how to handle each other when we're angry, whether it's us trying to get each other angrier or trying to make each other feel better. For example, when Justin is furious at me I know to not answer and give him a few minutes to think about the situation. My brother had always known when I was upset about something that I might not even have any control over and has always tried his best to cheer me up. These are just some of the many things that my brother and I have learned to get into the habit of, to help us be there for each other no matter how mad we could get at each other.

Growing up people always referred to my brother and me as if we were a set, meaning that one always went with the other. They automatically assumed that since we are twins, we are similar. My brother and I both have different skills that make us who we are. As we got older, that became more clear. Justin was able to be mature in ways that I didn’t know how to be when we got older, but the same went for me. National Geographic’s, Eve Conant, explains to us the way kids create an identity based on their gender by saying,  “Many readily admitted that it could be hard—frustrating, confusing, lonely—to fit into the communities they call home and the roles they’re expected to play.” The author points out that this was the view 9-year-old girls had since they knew at a young age that it would be harder for them to find a job then it would be for a male. When it was time for Justin and I to get our first jobs, Justin was just offered one. I had to work hard to find one. In New Jersey, you can get a job at 14, but most businesses won’t hire anyone under the age of 16. When we moved to Philadelphia, we worked at the same place. Justin was able to work well carrying heavy things and knowing how to answer customers questions without any help, whe Even though I was struggling with the job at first, I eventually learned everything to help customers have full satisfaction. That helped me to learn that I can succeed at anything I set my mind too.

My identity overall has been influenced by the actions of my brother and how it shaped my own character, as I’m sure it also helped to develop his identity. I learned not to argue over unnecessary things, and to get along with my brother in the easiest way possible. That also helps me to have good habits too. In the article, What Is the Self? It Depends, Julian Baggini says, “Conceptions of self are usually assumed to be attempts to describe the objective reality of what a self is, and this is indeed what thinkers around the globe have often thought they were doing.” With that saying, every action of my past has shaped who I am today. When I think about the past mistakes I have made, I am not just thinking about mine, but also the mistakes that my brother has made. I prefer to go with the flow and hope that time will figure things out, and if they don’t? What’s the worse that can happen? Justin has taught me that everything doesn’t have to be done perfectly correct and that it is okay to make mistakes because they should always work out.

As much as I wouldn’t like to admit this since Justin and I have experienced so many of the same events, it has caused us to not only be brother and sister but know each other more than anyone else on this planet. My brother has always known when I am lying, just like I always know when he’s annoyed. Since Justin has always caught me in a lie, I now prefer to tell the truth because what’s the worse that can happen? Whenever my brother ever gets angry or upset, I can always understand why better than anyone else can. We handle things differently and are both just trying to figure out a way to get through life successfully. We also know that just because something doesn’t work out, that we would always have each other's back because let's face it, we’re stuck with each other. Just because my brother and I have been through many similar life experiences, we are our own human beings, and are completely different from each other.