Letter re: Romeo and Juliet

Dear Sofia,

In class we just started reading Romeo and Juliet. The book is pretty confusing so far because Shakespeare uses many complicated phrases and such but thats ok because I've been using the No Fear Shakespeare books and Sparknotes. Using that, I think the plot is very touching and in the book there are so many symbols and things that represent issues and other things. There are many things that I've noticed in the book.

One thing that I've noticed is that the lifestyle thats happening in the time period of Romeo and Juliet is very different then ours. Juliet is supposed to have an arranged marriage with Paris at the age of only 13. In our generation there can be arranged marriages but defenitly not that young. Also in the book, Romeo and Juliet don't say a single word to each other but know that they both are in love, and the first time they actually do converse is when Juliet is on her balcony saying how in love she is with Romeo. In our generation, we actually get to know the person and then fall in love, but for Romeo and Juliet its love at first sight.

Something else that I've noticed is that the main issue is love and hate. The love between Romeo and Juliet is very strong and strong enough to leave family but Romeo and Juliet's family hate each other so Shakespeare definilty shows how hard it is for both of them to leave there familys and get married. That also shows the strength of their love.

In general I think the book is very deep and good and very intriguing but when I'm reading the orignal book I do zone out because I dont really understand whats happening. But the story line is great!

- Love Pooja

Reading Responce : Go Ask Alice

I'm reading the book Go Ask Alice by Anonymous right now and I think that its a book filled with a ton of issues that people can definitely relate to. It’s about a young teenager who records her thoughts and concerns about issues such as crushes, weight loss, sexuality, social acceptance, and difficulty relating to her parents. But a really big issue in the book is drugs and how the main character gets addicted to it. I think that they author did a really good job of emphasizing the importance of each issue. I think that the two most important issues are drugs and family. 

Drugs took a really big party of this book because it was sorta like a journey that would rob her out of her innocence and her youth, pretty much everything she had. In the book, it all starts when she goes to a dangerous party and is served a soft drink with a dose of LSD which is a type of drug. She did some crazy things such as loosing her virginity and just going crazy. Then finally when shes sober, she realizes what she did. She didn't know what she was doing but she defenetly felt free and in her own world. Away from all that stress and family issues. Starting from that day, she was hooked, trapped in a world that took her away form her comfortable home and loving family, to the rough streets of an unforgiving city. But she didn't realize and she had to learn everything the hard way. Death. (In the end of the book she dies because of overdosing of pills). 

Another big issue that really affected her and was a really big loss to her was her family. I think that the author did a really good job of showing how she lost everything mostly her family. The main character moves away from where she lived to another place and she doesn't have anything except her family. She actually did have one friend but her friend went to camp and they both get seperated. But then when her grandma gets sick she does realize that she her family does care for her and everyone in her family is really important and even if she looses one person, that would really affect her life. But those drugs were still too strong and took everything away from her. "Poor Gran is pretty much beside herself, but she's staying calm on the outside anyway. They haven't bugged me at all since I've been here, and they've been so delighted that I'm having a good time and that I've met a lot of friends that they stay completely out of my way." (37) . 

This is how drugs and family really did change her life. Alot of teenagers in the US often do learn the hard way and I think that this is one book that I'll never forget. I find it fascinating how one little choice you make can take away everything you have. First it was family, and then it was life (for this character).