Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie Essay The main character in Jordan Sonneblick’s novel Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie is a young boy named Steven Alper. Steven is an average 8th grade boy with average grades and a huge crush on the hottest girl in the grade; Renee Albert. He also loves to play the drums and hated his younger brother Jeffrey. Everything is going great with Steven Alper until one day he finds out that his younger brother has Leukemia. Steven and his family struggle with bills and keeping up with Jeffery. They learn that under certain circumstances you just have to give up things like your personal pride and your job. So, throughout his brother’s cancer diagnosis and his 8th grade year, Steven learns the meaning of sacrifice. …show more content…
Specifically, when it all started in Mrs. Palma’s class as he wrote about how much he hated his little brother Jeffery. He also explains all the things he has had to give up for Jeffery. For example, in the story he tells about when Jeffrey was born; “How would you like to be the King of the Planet for eight glorious years, and then suddenly get demoted to Vice King?”(pg. 4) This is an example of how Steven had to sacrifice something for his brother. Moreover, Steven also describes the condition of his “Special Sticks”(drum sticks of Steven signed by Carter Beauford) after Jeffery spoiled the while he was “cooking”; “The Special Sticks STILL smell funny.”(pg.7) This event shows another way Steven had to sacrifice for his younger …show more content…
One of Steven’s best friends, Annette, and his all-time crush, Renee, decide that the concert will be a benefit concert for Jeffrey. This could mean a huge relief to the Alper Family. On the actual day of the concert, things are going great until the intermission. During this period, Steven finds out that Jeffrey has a temperature after he threw up, so he has to go to the Emergency Room. Jeffrey really wants Steven to go with him, so Steven has a choice of either staying and doing his big drum solo, or going with Jeffrey. Steven recalls when he met a girl named Samantha at the cancer ward in the hospital, and how she told him “Stay with your brother… no matter what”(pg.232). To this thought Steven says to his band teacher, “Mr. W, I have to… I know. Go!”(pg.261) This event shows yet another way Steven sacrificed something for his brother, because he literally let go of the one thing he was working toward the entire
Crushes. Cancer. Death Crushes. Cancer. Death.
In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst elucidates the conflict between pride and compassion, and ultimately demonstrates that pride overcomes compassion. “The Scarlet Ibis” illustrates a tale of the narrator and his brother, Doodle, who had a physical disability and wasn’t expected to live after birth. Often, Brother resents the fact that he has a brother unable to do the same things he does; sometimes he loves and cares for his brother, taking Doodle everywhere with him, but other times he can only be mean, forcing Doodle to touch the coffin made for him. When Doodle turns five, Brother sets out to teach Doodle how to walk—even though the doctors said he wasn’t able to walk—and his family was joyous when they learned that he taught
“I wanted a brother. But Mama, crying, told me that even if William Armstrong lived, he would never do these things with me. He might not, she sobbed, even be “all there.” He might as long as he lived, lie on the rubber sheet in the center of the bed in the front bedroom where the white marquisette curtains billowed out in the afternoon sea breeze, rustling like palmetto fronds” (Hurst 1). In this story William Armstrong (Doodle) is a little kid who has heart problems.
The author of Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie uses chapter titles to lighten the mood, foreshadows the chapter, and shows how important Jeffrey is to Steven. One use of the chapter titles is that they help add a humorous tone to the novel. For example, one of the chapter names is “A Man’s Journey” (Sonnenblick). The chapter title sounds silly and goofy. You most likely wouldn’t guess that the chapter says, “There were sick kids everywhere一walking with IV poles, playing games, lying in beds, watching TV, sleeping.”
Josef, someone who was selfish and greedy, who only wanted what’s best for himself, had turned into a true adult. He sacrificed his future and his life for his family. And he did all of that without realizing that he was actually acting like one, like a true adult would do. To reflect, Josef and his father had switched places and Josef sacrificed himself for his sister. This is a true reflection of Josef being an adult, because he is one.
Author’s Crafts The way an author crafts a story strongly impacts the mood of the story. Within the novel, Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, the main character - Steven - is a funny, sarcastic 13-year-old, When Jeffrey, his younger brother is diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (A.L.L), his life takes a turn for the worst. However, instead of making the novel gloomy and depressing, Jordan Sonnenblick (the author) incorporated jokes and sarcastic comments into the tale.
Michigan Inspiration Who is your inspiration? Your parent, a teacher, an athlete? Mine is Norman Pugh, my grandpa. Norman Pugh is 75 years old, he is about 6 foot 3, also he has gray-brown hair, and is very smart. He lives in Hastings Michigan, also he likes guns and hunting.
Initially when Nowlan introduces the readers to the protagonist it is clear to see that Stephen strives to achieve this idealistic manhood that’s been forced upon him by his father and the “burly, red-faced me,” the only way to make this transition into a man is to strip himself of anything remotely childish.
In John Wyndham’s novel, The Chrysalids, the reader is introduced to an apocalyptic world, where a young boy named David tries to survive his strict community that is against any differences. Uncle axel is the only supportive adult figure in David’s life that protects him and guides him to become the person he is today. While David comes to terms with his deviation axel provides protection and advice to cope with his difference. He uses past knowledge to offer ideas to stay safe as a group. Uncle axel teaches David that being different is not always a bad thing and actually a good thing.
He resides and works at a pulp-saw mill, alongside with his father and the pulp-cutting crew. Stephen’s “willowy fifteen-year old body” juxtaposing with the“faintly humped backs and ox-like shoulders” of the pulp cutting crew causes Stephen to hold the conviction that he is a weakling. Furthermore, his father’s
fascinating “Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie." is the focus of “things you can change, not the things you can 't change.” In this novel Steven was frustrated because he couldn 't do anything about Jeffery having leukemia and the family is extremely low on money. So instead he learns from Mrs.Gally that he should focus on the “things you can change, not the things you can 't change.” With this advice Steven changes things about himself for the better. Steven did things for his family and Jeffery to make things easier in a time of difficulty.
Wise people will say, “you're free to do whatever you want, but you should always take responsibility of the consequences of your choices in life.” In the novel Tangerine, by Edward Bloor, the reader understands that every choice has a consequence, not just on you, but others too. Paul Fisher, the main character, lives with his evil brother Erik, who has been torturing Paul for as long as he has lived. Erik makes some bad choices that roughly impact Paul’s life. Through Erik's choices and consequences, Paul is given less attention, he loses friends, grows stronger, and becomes able to stand up for himself and stop spectating.
James Howe, critically acclaimed author wasn’t always so ambitious. In fact, he was once diffident and kept to himself. He loathed hunting and shuns any brutality. He determined from his childhood that he would always try to impress his family, even if it meant going against his own precepts. That was, until one day, when he was ten, his brother, Paul altered his world forever.
Character Analysis: The character that I have chosen to analyze is Brother. At the beginning of the story, we are introduced to brother as a fun-loving kid who just wants a playmate. When his brother, Doodle, is born though he becomes selfish and ashamed of his brother. Brother is selfish when he says, “was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn't walk, so I set out to teach him.”
Bullies can be found anywhere in the world. They victimize, torture, and threaten others for their own benefit. Every bully has a weakness they attempt to conceal, but it is never truly hidden. This insecurity leads them to act out against seemingly inferior people to achieve a false sense of strength and security. The deep emotional struggle bullies face is evident in Lord of the Flies by William Golding.