Hello fellow bloggers; Andrianna, Karran, Melissa, Haneen, Sara, and Hannah. Welcome to Literature Circle response #5. In this section of Sketches Dana has been through a lot. She got kicked out of the Tent Town, a place where she finally felt safe, and she also discovered a dead body, which has seemed to have an impact on her. So my question is if you were Dana would you go back home? What would it take for you to go back home? Considering that her mom is now looking for her as well.
Let's hope this discussion is as juicy as all the others.
Very interesting question Arianna! It's going to take me while to answer this question. I'll answer soon!
ReplyDeleteIt would be helpful if you could change your background because I can't see anything Sara wrote! If you can see this please change it, if not I'll let you know via facebook.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, Dana has been through a lot of horrific events, but if I were Dana I would not go home. It would take a lot for me to go back home if my father was as terrible as Dana's stepfather. I am sort of a coward though, so maybe seeing a rotting corpse would make me go back home. At the same time I wouldn't want to leave Brent and Ashley. It just doesn't feel right to leave people that actually love you and take care of you. They're basically family now and I would never leave them. If my mom was searching for me I think I would sort of hope that she finds me, then again we don't specifically know what Dana has been through back home. If I got raped or almost raped then I would go back home. If being a prostitute was the only way for me to make money, then I would go back home. Another reason that would make me go back home would be if I had a parent like Dana's stepfather and they were abusing my little sisters in any way. Awesome question Arianna! It would be very helpful if you change your background because it's very hard to see what Hannah wrote.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hannah, can you please change your background? It's hard to see, and I don't think people would want to highlight every single time to look at a comment. If you don't want to change your background, could you at least change the colour of your font to black or something, so people can see what people wrote? Thanks! I'll respond to the question as soon as I can!
ReplyDeleteMiss Pollock figured out if you highlight the words they turn blue and you can see what we all wrote! Great question Arianna, and awesome answer Sara. My answer will be very similar to Sara's because great minds think alike!
ReplyDeleteIf I was Dana it would take a LOT for me to go back home. What Dana's step-father did to her was horrible and something nobody should have to go through. I can picture how disgusting the dead man's odor but most of all eye sockets must have been but that would not be my breaking point. I'm a strong believer that families are not exclusive to biological, blood relatives. I think Brent and Ashley are just as much family as Dana's mother and sister and even more family than her awful step-father. I wouldn't leave my family (Brent and Ashley) for anything and I definitely wouldn't go back home! The only thing that would possibly make me get off the streets would be if Brent or Ashley was killed. However, that would be REALLY sad. I honestly don't get what they have against shelters. I understand them not wanting to go to, say, the salvation army or another religious shelter because it could bring back bad memories for Brent. I'm sure there are other shelters though that would be more welcoming, like don't they have LGBT shelters or womens shelters for Dana and Ashley? Of course they wouldn't want to seperate though. I really think Dana should have stayed with Ashley and Brent at the apartment.
I agree with you Sara. If I saw a dead body and smelled the strong nasty smell, I would be a chicken, and I would be freaked out, and I would just get out of here as quickly as I can, and I would head home. I walk to school every day, and I see a lot of dead animals since where I walk is close to a forest. One time, I saw this dead baby deer, and I freaked out! I was screaming and I just ran away from that sight. I even saw a dead mouse once while I was walking, and I freaked out then too, and a mouse is a tiny little thing! I'm such a chicken!! BOCK BOCK BACK!!!
ReplyDeleteI saw a dead mouse too, but I didn't go crazy because I was afraid of accidentally stepping on it. Even if I saw a rotting corpse I still would not go back home, if I was Dana.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Sara, if I were Dana and saw a rotting corpse, I wouldn't go home, because I know how brave Dana is. However, if I were me and for example, if I see a dead body and smell the horrible stench say tomorrow while I'm walking to school, I would run home, and if I'm brave enough, I would talk to someone for help, but I don't know if that would happen, because I'm such a wimp! I would be scared to death. I'll respond to this question by tonight!
ReplyDeleteGood question Arianna! After getting kicked out of Tent Town and seeing and smelling a dead rotten person, I don't think Dana should go home. Seeing a dead body and smelling the unpleasant odour is horrible and disgusting, and getting kicked out of a place that you finally thought was a good place to stay overnights until they got the apartment was sad, but what Dana's stepfather did to her was heinous, and she can't go back. If she went back home, she might face her stepfather every single day, and she might cut herself every single day, and her life will turn around again. When Dana ran away and lived on the streets with Brent and Ashley, she never saw her stepfather and she rarely cut herself. Life seemed safer when she met Brent and Ashley on the streets. I'm not going to say it's the safest, because you never know what will happen on the streets. You could be kicked out of a place that you were going to stay for a while or see a dead body or be offered a lot of money, but only for sex, but it's safer than living in a house with a man that doesn't treat you like a stepfather should treat his stepdaughter. If it weren't for them, her life on the streets would've been terrible. Also, it might be hard for Dana to leave Sketches, because she's been fond of that place for a while, and she as well as Brent and Ashley got to express themselves there through art and everyone's so nice there. She could talk to Nicki and see what she could do for them as well. If I were Dana, for me to go back home, it would take a lot. For example, I would go home if Brent and Ashley happened to be dead, because they helped Dana cope with life on the streets and they were with her every step of the way. If they died, Dana would be so devastated, and she wouldn't know what to do. She could be so freaked out and therefore go back home. Also, if I were Dana, I would go back home if Dana's mother and stepfather separated or divorced, because Dana's stepfather was what started it all. He was the reason she ran away in the first place, and it would be a total weight off her shoulders if he left, and it was just Dana, her mom and her sister. Finally, if I were Dana, I would go back home if Sketches went out of business, because it was safe there, and she would get day-old food, have a place to stay if she really needed it and she could express herself through art , and sometimes she would get money for it, like the time they did the art replica of "Starry Night" by Van Gogh on the sidewalk. In conclusion to this response, Dana shouldn't go home after facing some devastating encounters, and for me to go home, it would take so much, like if Brent and Ashley were killed, Dana's stepfather was out of her life or if Sketches closed forever.
ReplyDeleteHey Guys! Sorry it took me a while to reply but I was away for the whole march break! Good question Arrianna!
ReplyDeleteHowever, Can you please change the background, because it is VERY hard to read what everyone is writing. I will post my question and respond to you guys as soon as I can read it. Please fix it ASAP! Thank you.
This discussion is too good for words! I agree with what all of you guys said about this question. It really takes a lot of guts to runaway and definitely a lot of guts to go back home. Dana has been through A LOT. And I mean it. Before I answer Arianna's question, I think Eric Walters is a fantastic writer. However, I am not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing but he didn't tell us much about Dana's background at school. We know the activities she did but we didn't know anything about her friends and her social life. This will definitely give us a good knowledge of maybe other reason she ran away or cuts herself. For example, cyber bullying, name calling or any type of bullying or violence.
ReplyDeleteAnd here's my answer:
Living in a house with lots of pain and fear isn't pretty at all. It would really take me a lot to go back home. I would still feel the pain like it's a dead soul of a body spinning around my head. Being sexually abused by a man who you consider should take care of you when you are the daughter of someone who loves is disgusting. It's more like a nightmare that no one would want to see or even sense it coming.
It would take me so much to go back home. It would take me to get over the unbelievable things that happened. It would take me that my stepfather to leave for good. He's like a man that owns the most hideous heart and personality ever.
I also feel SO bad for Dana's mother. It's devastating the feeling of betrayal. I wonder if he married her for her money. Because you guys remember how Ashley asked how can she afford all these types of different lessons? So she probably was a happy family with lots of money or we could average.
I think I am finally deciding to write that book we talked about; the ways of escaping thoughts and dealing with those types of situations!
I agree with Melissa and Sara on the dead animals. I just saw a dead squirrel this Friday across the road! We see a lot of dead animals around. I am not afraid of them though. This might be strange for you guys but I fear nothing and I mean nothing but God.
ReplyDeleteBut I don't blame Dana because each person has their own fears and personality. It also depends on your surroundings and your way of making connections.
I really liked your answer Haneen. I do not think that it was necessary for Eric Walters to write about Dana's school life. He gave us some reasons of why Dana cut herself. Like how her parents always used to yell at each other and she thought that maybe her parents split up because of her. On top of that, she has a stepfather who does not act the way a father should act, and that concludes to Dana cutting herself. If she got teased by her fellow classmates then Eric Walters would have put that in the book. It would have been nice to know about Dana's friends and what her teachers were like, but that would be too much information. If the story has nothing to do with it then why put it in? Personally, I would get bored of reading a chapter about Dana's school life because it wouldn't be relevant to the story. We do get to read about how Dana's marks go downhill suddenly, and I think it's because that was probably when her stepfather started abusing her. There was a part where she mentions her friends, but nothing about bullies. I don't really get scared when I see a dead animal (well I do, but that's a very small percentage of what I feel whenever I see one), but I get disgusted and I feel sorry for the animal, so I just try to walk away without panicking (most of the time I don't panic).
ReplyDeleteMaybe you're right Sara. I just realized that I forgot that Dana is a really sweet girl. There for, I don't she had any haters in school or bullies. Also, it seemed to be like a peaceful school she was in and it seemed to be an artistic school as well, right?
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear that you don't fear dead animals. Keep it that way my strong Sara!
Well, I somewhat fear them, but I mostly feel disgusted and sad, which makes me want to leave and go as far as possible from it.
ReplyDeleteI don't get scared when I see dead animals just upset, like what Sara said. I liked what you said Haneen, you are very strong. Good for you! Miss Pollock said that she told Eric Walters about our discussions but I don't think he's read them. Maybe there's a way we can get in contact with him.
ReplyDeleteIf I was Dana I would definitely be contemplating whether or not to go home. Especially after seeing a dead body, and having difficulties with finding places to sleep. But the hardest thing for me to leave would be the security of Sketches. Being able to know there’s a place to go where it's safe, and I can do stuff I enjoy, with people I enjoy being with. I would be scared to go home because of Dana’s step dad, but another thing that would keep from going back home would be confrontation, and embarrassment. Confronting my mom and telling her why I ran away, and I would be embarrassed because I would want to look strong for staying out on the streets for a long time, and by coming back home, I think, would make me look a little like a coward.
ReplyDeleteHaneen I think it was really neat how you thought about Dana’s school life, that thought never even came to mind.
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ReplyDeleteYou brought up a really good point Arianna! I would be SO embarrassed being Dana confronting my mom as well! I wouldn't even look in her face!
ReplyDeleteHannah, maybe miss Pollock should Email him. He's a really busy man I am assuming!
That is true, but there's no harm in asking!
ReplyDelete