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In the Coming of Age story there is a protagonist who matures socially or psychologically. The pattern of a coming of age story starts with the protagonist that is immature and youthful where they then need to deal with a problem or challenge causing them to struggle. Through the struggle they need to make a decision to overcome the obstacle and in the end the character learns something. There are 5 stages the protagonist moves through. 1 is the state of naivete to a state of knowledge. The 2nd is the state of the inexperienced to state of experienced. 3rd is a false view of the world to a realistic view of the world. 4 is state of idealism to state of realism. And 5 is the state of immaturity to a state of mature decision making and response. The growth of the character is shown by clashes between wants and rules, establishing rules and trying to become an active participant of the world. The stories may consist of a realistic realization about the world or a thing, sometimes involved in the Hero's journey, and often involves separation from family, friends, and society.

In the coming of age story there is a protagonist who starts out as immature then a problem develops causing a struggle then the character has to come up with a solution and at the end of the day they come out more mature and not as naïve in the world.

I found that the poem “Where This Flower Blooms” by Tyler, the Creator follows the idea of the coming of age story well. Tyler, the Creator starts out by reminiscing on the days when he was poor and playing with “toys [he] only dreamed that [he] could afford” (9). In the first verse of the song he is in the point of view of his younger self in LA, with not much money, and a dream of being a known rapper. This is the first stage of the Coming of age story. He went from being naïve and not knowing much about the world to becoming more knowledgeable. He then goes to show how he is living his best life in California. He is finally recognized for his talent and started living on the rich side of Los Angeles. This is the second stage of the coming to age story. Here he begins to experience more of the world. We then begin to enter the 3rd stage which is understanding the world and viewing it in a realistic way. He shows this when he explains how “n***** get stuck in the cold, shit weighs a ton” (27-28). He understands the struggle as well as the hustle to get to the top of the economic ladder. After this, we enter the 4th step, realism. This scene of being in the fast lane and living in a way he could have never imagined because he “went from statistic to millionaire” (38). Meaning him being a black man, the statistics in economic success are relatively low. His dreams have finally come true and they are setting into reality for him. Finally, into the fifth stage which is the transition from immaturity to mature. He started from the bottom and he made his way to the top. He has his family’s best interest in mind making sure they have enough money to get by and live comfortably. The development of his character went from a young immature boy into living the experiences of life, making his dreams come true and the idea of it finally settling in while learning life’s lessons along the way.

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I chose to read and analyze poems from the “Female Voices” category. I chose this playlist to be my first reading because as a female I believe that we should have each other's backs and support one another. As I was reading through these poems many of the songs are my go to “pump me up” music so I was excited to read.
The first poem I read was “Formation” by Beyoncé. I chose this song because I like listening to it but have never gone in depth about the meaning behind it. While reading this poem I noticed that Beyoncé is talking to her haters. She is all glammed out now but she is from the country and you can never take the country out of her. “Slay” is a slang term for “hot” or doing extraordinary well in something. She keeps repeating “I slay”. She knows her worth no matter what all of the haters say about her because she got to where she is now with her talent. She also makes references to taking a man out to dinner, not him taking her out which is a power move. It's a stereotype that men take women out and pay for dinner so these references come off as a woman power move when the roles are reversed. She is a woman who made her own money and now she is telling these ladies to “get in formation” because they can do it too.
The second poem I analyzed was “Roxanne’s Revenge” by Roxanne Shante. I have never heard this song before so this was my first time reading the lyrics. This song appears to be another woman power song about 3 guys whose egos were too high. The first guy is described to be a leech. He has no money of his own and swears he is better than he really is and is always trying to get at girls. Of course, Roxanne put him in his place because she raps better and doesn’t need a man to take care of her. The second man was a rapper. This guy seems to be a pathological liar because he switches his life stories every time. Roxanne tells him to fly like her. The third guy is a doctor but isn't that cute or great. The doctor calls her out for not being a real MC but when he started rapping he didn’t make any sense because he “started talkin’ Pig Latin”. Roxanne knows that any guy who tries to step up to her to disprove her worth, she will be embarrassed because she knows she is the best. Men get upset when girls reject them and they get mean after because they need to feel needed but confident, independent women don’t need a man to tell them how to think or feel or even what to do.
I chose this image of Beyoncé because it says a million things in one picture. She is walking away from the fire like she just did it but her face and body language shows so much confidence with no regrets.

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There are two types of conflicts; internal conflict and external conflict. Internal conflict is the person vs self like conscience and dealing with your own personal thoughts. External conflict is man vs man man vs society, fate, the unknown, supernatural, and man vs technology. Man vs man is antagonist vs protagonist. Man vs nature fights against the forces of nature. Man vs society fights against individual beliefs and goes against the community norms. Man vs fate is the fight against freedom and freewill. Man vs the unknown or supernatural where the character  battles what he cannot see or understand. Man vs technology where the character fights against something man made and example being frankenstein.
The way we perceive our environment is influenced by our previous knowledge of that experience, our primal instincts, and cultural expectations. We think about the geographical setting where the story is located. The temporal is the social environment in which era the story takes place. Immediate surroundings are what is close to the character.
In the story “The Last Poets” by Christine Otten, the setting of the character Felipe’s life plays an important role in the conflict that gets brought up in his personality and experiences. Felipe has moved around from New York to California and being on opposite sides of the country, there are big differences in scenery as well as people. In New York, there seems to be more conflict, while in California not so much. In California, Felipe has become the vice president and is able to go out without getting in trouble. Felipe living in New York was extremely different, he tended to get into trouble a lot based on the conflict he had been in that environment mixing with his personality. While in New York, Felipe was involved in gangs, associated with murder, created associations with young lords, and was a more aggressive person alongside his friend Jose. Felipe's surroundings made him adapt his personality to fit in better adn to protect himself.
In my experience I have never left the central valley. I have moved around to different places but have never had the struggle Felipe had when his life was being threatened. I started school in Ripon which was a very rich town. I then moved to Modesto in 2nd grade. Living in Modesto, there are different types of people to whom I had to change my personality to fit in because the area was more diverse and it opened my eyes to more of the world and the different types of people. From Modesto I moved to Stockton. While living in Stockton nothing really bad happened to me. I overall had a good experience. Living in Stockton opened my eyes to more gang related activity but I never once felt like my life was in danger and it was not much different than going to school in modesto. From Stockton I then moved to Oakdale where I still reside to this day. I have once again moved to a small rich town like Ripon, but definitely more diverse which is great! I truly feel like I have been blessed with the luck and safety I have been given. Throughout the years I have developed “street smarts' ' which makes me more aware of my surroundings and if I feel like something is wrong I can get myself out of the situation or I can make a pre plan for me to escape.

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From the book "The Last Poets" by Christine Otten, I have come to analyze the character Omar, also known as Jerome. This story takes place in a third-person point of view, therefore, his direct views are not used to help illustrate the story. Although in third-person, his thoughts and feelings in the passages are still accounted for.  The reader still obtains an intimate and sincere reaction when Jerome is undergoing a shocking event. In third-person perspective, it can still contain many of the same aspects of the first person perspective if the narrator incorporates the details and feelings. Jerome starts to experience situations and gain feelings for Dora and Carla in the story. Dora is seen as a round character, a character that is much more distinctly human which does not act in a particularly bad or wrong way and changes throughout the story. For Dora, Jerome starts to gain feelings from her that makes him feel important. Jerome took care of Dora and did every single favor she asked him to do. It was then shown that Jerome felt important and needed when he was with Dora but despite their feelings they could never be together because of their races. Dora tries to explain the abuse that she endures while being at home and the distraught she gets from being there but we as the readers only know what Jerome can comprehend. Jerome says, “It’s not about that, we were friends. She’s gone.” (Otten 68). Jerome shows by this statement that he gives up at the sight of an issue. Dora needed Jerome to escape her family but he did not understand that and could not get past the racial segregation they endured during this time period. On the other hand, Carla is seen as a flat character, characters with little development. Her purpose in Jerome’s life was for a quick distraction, nothing long term. Jerome has shown that he possesses motives throughout the story by executing actions and using his critical thinking skills. In the passage, he is motivated to gain business and be successful by cleaning others shoes. As for his family life, his relationship with his father is shown as a toxic environment which has been illustrated as violent and abusive. Jerome is the protagonist of the story, he is a round character that has depth, as well as dynamic and changes throughout the story. His development and strength is shown through his ability to not allow his father's actions to influence him.

A question that I am wondering is what more could Jerome have done to help Dora and her situation? Would that be socially acceptable for them to be together considering the racial segregation back then?

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Hello class, my name is Marissa! I am a freshman going into my second semester of college. I started out as a biology major but just recently switched to pre-nursing contributing to the "teenagers can't make up their mind" stereotype. I currently am working as a medical scribe at an urgent care and I am loving every minute of being there. I eventually want to get into travel nursing and becoming a nurse anesthetist. In my spare time I love to go on hikes, travel, explore, and bake. Whenever I am not working or don't have school I always make an effort to get out of the house and explore this beautiful world we live in. I wish this semester the best for all of us and I hope to eventually be able to see everyone on campus soon!