Argument Essay #1

Argument Essay 1st Draft  By: Joshua Williams  Class: 812        Teenagers face many troubles and misadventures. “The Perks of being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, is about a teenage boy named Charlie who has a lot of experience with everyday troubles and misadventures. Through this book, you can see what kind of troubles and misadventures a teenager faces. Although there is one problem. The book, ”The Perks of being a Wallflower” is currently being considered by a panel of parents as unacceptable for middle schoolers to read. I believe that this book should not be banned from middle school libraries because it gives realistic examples of issues and situations that may occur in high school. Furthermore, it gives positive resolutions for kids on how to deal with problems and can help them understand potential issues that they may face one day. Even though the text includes occasional situations concerning child abuse, sexual activity and drug usage; there are examples that are outlined in the book that give positive resolutions to the aforementioned situations about what they shouldn’t expose themselves to. Due to the inappropriate dialogue and adult situations in this book, I believe the appropriate audience for this story would be kids who are at least in 8th grade or high schoolers. However, some parents think that this book should be banned from all school kids, including those in high school as well as middle school. My following argument will substantiate why, ”The Perks of being a Wallflower” should not be banned because it shows kids what they should and should not expose themselves to.        One reason why this book should not be banned is because it potentially sets good examples as to what happens to kids that do drugs and may be drinking at an inappropriate age. If students see how the inappropriate use of drugs and alcohol effects the lives of the characters, then maybe they will think twice before they also try out drinking and drug. I believe that this book can set a good example for kids and therefore sets a positive life lesson for middle schoolers and above.       Another reason why this book should not be banned is that it teaches kids to stand up for themselves as well as others whom are being bullied. Kids who read this book will notice that there are characters who have committed suicide from being bullied or from peer pressure. Kids need to learn how serious a problem this can become for themselves, as well as for others. In the future kids will need to learn how to speak up for themselves or for someone else being bullied.       One final example as to why this book should not be banned is that it demonstrates how actions have consequences. If kids see other examples of inappropriate premature sexual activity, then the book will demonstrate the consequences of having sex at a premature age. The struggles that the characters face will reflect onto the reader. Finally, this book shows the various struggles and misadventures of our main character, Charlie. This book shows the life of an average teenage boy and you get to see  this character’s visual description of the world. Evidently, to some readers, this would cause people to have doubts about their own beliefs and decisions to everyday choices, which could be a good reason to why parents want this book banned. However, this group of parents overlook how this book might set a good example for kids who need a positive influence on what they should and should not do in high school. This helps to show how this book gives positive resolutions to everyday problems making the book a valuable lesson in life’s journey for middle school aged children and above.       In conclusion, the book, ”The Perks of being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, show kids what to do and what not to do in high school. It sets good examples to kids about what kind of everyday troubles they may face and gives the reader a visual on what it’s like to be pushed into the influence of drugs, alcohol, and other misadventures the main character go through.  

Argument Essay #1

    Argument Essay 1st Draft
By: Joshua Williams
Class: 812

     Do you ever get the feeling that you want to know what kind of problems you may face in your future? Well, the realistic fictional book, “The Perks of being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, can answer that question and allow you to see what kind of troubles and misadventures a teenager faces. Although there is one problem. The book,”The Perks of being a Wallflower” is currently being considered by a panel of parents as unacceptable for middle schoolers to read. I believe that this book should not be banned from middle school libraries because it gives realistic examples of issues and situations that may occur in high school. Furthermore, it gives positive resolutions for kids on how to deal with problems and can help them understand potential issues that they may face one day. Even though the text includes occasional situations concerning child abuse, sexual activity and drug usage; there are examples that are outlined in the book that give positive resolutions to the aforementioned situations about what they shouldn’t expose themselves to. Due to the inappropriate dialogue and adult situations in this book,I believe the appropriate audience for this story would be kids who are at least in 8th grade (PG-13) or high schoolers. However, some parents think that this book should be banned from all school kids, including those in high school as well as middle school. My following argument will substantiate why,”The Perks of being a Wallflower” should not be banned.
      One reason why this book should not be banned is because it potentially sets good examples as to what happens to kids that do drugs and may be drinking at an inappropriate age. If students see how the inappropriate use of drugs and alcohol effects the lives of the characters, then maybe they will think twice before they also try out drugs and drinking. I believe that this book can set a good example for kids and therefore sets a positive life lesson for middle schoolers and above.
     Another reason why this book should not be banned is that it teaches kids to stand up for themselves as well as others whom are being bullied. Kids who read this book will notice that there are characters who have committed suicide from being bullied or from peer pressure. Kids need to learn how serious a problem this can become for themselves, as well as for others. In the future kids will need to learn how to speak up for themselves or for someone else being bullied.
     One final example to why this book should not be banned is that it demonstrates how actions have consequences. If kids see other examples of inappropriate premature sexual activity, then the book will demonstrate the consequences of having sex at a premature age. The struggles that the characters face will reflect onto the reader. This helps to show how this book gives positive resolutions to everyday problems making the book a valuable lessons in life’s’ journey for middle school aged children and above.
     In conclusion, my argument as to whether or not the book,”The Perks of being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, is that this book is appropriate for middle school kids and above.  I believe that middle school kids should have access to this book because it sets a good example for what kids should and shouldn't expose themselves to. This book can help kids to choose the appropriate paths in real life.

Notification #3

Notification #3
Save Me
By: Joshua Williams
Class: 812


Save me, save him
Save them, save us
Our lives are in your hands
But you put us in this situation

Alaska is warming up
No ice or fish for miles
Me and My kin stay gathered at the beach
We wonder how much longer we have to live

35,000 gather to try and stay alive
Each day, we struggle to live
My kin have been dying, one by one
And soon, I will be next, so listen to my prayer

Help me and help my Brethren, Keep them safe
I hope the forces in the sky fell my sorrow
There is death, awaiting my arrival
As I go to him, and say goodbye, for the last time

This poem was based on the global warming effect in Alaska. Walruses are dying everywhere and people need to step up and make a difference. Please, we need your help to save the walruses, before they are all wiped out.

Notification #2

Notification #2
By Joshua Williams
Class: 812


I have chosen to listen to the evening news for five days and report on one news event a night. My response explains what I think of the events that have been occurring in recent weeks. All I could possibly say is that there are people in this world who do crazy, stupid things for unknown and selfish reasons. These behavers causes people to think horribly about the people being reported on. I believe that this is the wrong thing to do. In every news article, there have been comments about what others think about some of the terrible and crazy things people do. I believe that this text will help you, the reader, who may think badly about these people, understand exactly why these people did what they did, to see if your opinion changes.
There is one news story that some might be familiar with. The story about the mother who had just been released from jail after being framed for child abuse by her husband. The father of three children had been abusing them for a long time, and the father had the mother take the fall for his actions. This caused the mother to go in jail. Once the children were taken into custody and told the police the truth about who was abusing them the police arrested the father for abuse. Many people believe that the mother was acting cowardly and should have told the police in the beginning that the father was the real culprit. However, I think that they aren’t thinking about this in the mothers perspective. The mother feared that if she told the police, her husband might try to kill her and there would be no one to protect her children. This shows that the mother confessed to the police out of fear and helplessness. Her willingness to sacrifice herself for her kids is what made her a real hero.
Another news story that others might be familiar with is the news story I jotted down my first night. The article reports the Mayor of Brooklyn, Bill de Blasio, was late for the memorial services for the relatives of the plane crash that killed hundreds of people thirteen years ago. The memorial couldn’t start without Mayor Bill de Blasio. He was carelessly late for something so important seems wrong to me. Some people commented that it couldn't be helped, others commented that even the Mayor makes mistakes. Mayor Bill de Blasio's expression once he finally arrived looked like it was not that big of a deal. I think he didn’t take the ceremony seriously enough and he didn’t care much about not arriving exactly on time. This shows how little Mayor Bill de Blasio cared about this memorial proving even the Mayor does selfish things.
One more news story you might be familiar with is the one I got from my third night while watching the evening news. French tourist replaced the American flag on the Brooklyn bridge with the French flag. This tourist thought that it would be fun to take a selfie on the top of the Brooklyn Bridge as a funny joke. He didn’t realize that he was breaking the law. Some people may think that he was doing this as a sign of French rebellion, but I believe that he did this just for the fun of it. Sometimes, people do dumb things and don’t think about the consequences afterwords. This proves how careless some people can be.
In conclusion, these news stories had sometimes harsh and sometimes sympathetic comments. I wanted to make this text about what I thought about the news stories I wrote down. I hope you feel different about the events once you read my response.

Notification #1

Notification Article #1
By: Joshua Williams
Class: 812

Every day I go to school, as I walk across the public park, I see people with shopping carts filled with clothes and rags, people are sleeping on the benches, and others who are just begging for money on the street corners. Every time I see this, I can’t help but think if those people were going to be alright. I would wonder if they would live until tomorrow? How sad and lonely they must be. The amount of homeless people in our city rises every day. Each day another person is dying from hunger and not many people really care. There are many people who need help. I think we should come up with a plan to save these people and their families. I can think of many ways we can help the homeless population get back on their feet.
One thing that could be done to help people get off the streets is to create more jobs for people who really need them. Creation of better paying jobs would allow homeless persons the ability to make enough money for them to buy food, water, and clothing. This would help people who are poor and lack job security.
Another thing that could help homeless persons get off the streets is to create affordable housing. Housing that keeps the rent at a level that is manageable. Lower rents for persons whose incomes are low. This would prevent the homeless person from being asked to move because they did not have enough money to pay rent increases.
One final suggestion is to create more secure and safe homeless shelters. Shelters that a homeless person would not be afraid to stay at until they gather enough money to afford better living facilities. This would help with the stress and other problems if they had a safe place to sleep at night. I'm sure this would help homeless people who don't have any where else to go.
In conclusion, I feel that others need to be more considerate when they see a homeless person. We need to find better ways to help those in need of money and shelter. There needs to be a grater incentive to encourage people to make charitable donations, build more shelters, and find more people willing to except and ask for help when needed. People can make a difference and I believe that you the reader need to make one too.