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Big Ideas: Obstacles, Appearances, &  Naivety

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Big Ideas: Obstacles, Appearances, &  Naivety

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2/20 Big Ideas: Resilience, Transformation, & Change 

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2/20 Big Ideas: Resilience, Transformation, & Change 

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In The Memoir "A Piece Of Cake" by Cupcake Brown, it talks about Cupcake the main character living mostly with her mother and on some occasions goes over with her father, while Cupcake has a brother named Levi, he stays at his dad's house, Cupcake explains her relationship with her brother Levi while it isn't the best bond they have together saying in the book that they fight a lot and never get along. To the point where I am at in the book it goes to the point where Cupcake AKA "Cup" in short realizes his mother is not waking up and is still on her bed she soon realizes she is dead, the way she died was none like no other, when Cupcake landed on top of her mother collapsing to the floor is caused her to swallow her tongue leading to suffocation leading me to question if the death of her mother was her fault.

Cup being the main character deals with the sadness of her mother when she says in the book "It was then when I began to cry" when she says that it shows the true reaction showing her love and affection to her mother, after her mothers death the radio played Cup's dad realized the song that was playing on the radio was the favorite song of her Mother and Cup, once he realized he quickly turned it off but as Cup's words put it "It was too late and I began to cry".

One of the other characters talked about was Levi being the brother Cup hates with all her heart as we know Levi and Cup don't live with each other which is a good thing from knowing they fight a lot and do not get along very well the way Levi and Cup put it "Our fights were no joke" shows the true seriousness of the fights they had and the hatred towards one another. To the point where I am at another character is being introduced with the name being Uncle Jr. as Cup calls him "Her favorite uncle" even thought he is the only uncle in the family it explains the love she has for him based on the things he has most likely done for her or the moments they have lived together which will most likely get talked about further in the book.

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02/20 Big ideas: Family, Feeling Lost, and Self Destruction 

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02/20 Big ideas: Family, Feeling Lost, and Self Destruction 

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In the memoir, "A Piece Of Cake" by cupcake brown, The author talks about Cupcake living with her mother and living with her father occasionally. She also has a brother named Levi that only lives with their father because of him and cupcakes relationship. Cupcake and Levi's relationship isn't the best as they fight a lot which gets very extreme so it's best to split them apart. One day Cupcake goes to see if her mother is awake but ends up finding her dead she was in disbelief that this happened to her Mother.

Cupcake deals with confusion as her mother had just died and now has to go with her biological father that she calls Mr. Burns, He was never interested in her or her brothers life until they're mother passed. Cupcake was confused learning this because her whole life she thought her dad was someone else so she was in disbelief when they told her she reacted by saying, "This ain't my daddy". Cupcake and her brother Levi now have to live with Mr.Burns because he is their biological father.

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In the memoir "A Piece Of Cake" the author Cupcake Brown begins her book with describing herself as being a "skinny", and "ugly" eleven year old living in a "ghetto" neighborhood where everyone made fun of her. She then goes on to detail her relationship with her family which at that point consisted of her dad, her older brother Larry (who she doesn't get along with) and her mom whom Cupcake had just found dead . We then find out how her mothers death led her to have a life in the foster system as the person she believed was her dad was not actually related to her at all. Instead her actual dad was someone who although was related to her and wanted custody of her and her brother, his only motivation was the fact that he could get money. But as it turns out they're was no way for her biological dad to get money out of keeping the kids so instead he left them in the foster system with a lady name Diane and never looked back. As a result Cupcake and her brother ended up being in such horrible living conditions, so much so that Diane's nephew ended up raping Cupcake which caused her to runaway leaving her brother Larry behind and leading her to meet Candy. Once she meets Candy she is convinced that she can make a living off prostituting herself, that is until she meets Money who runs the business and will take part of her income if she chooses to continue in the business. But once she gets a chance to actually think Cupcake decides that if she is gonna suffer just to give money to someone else than she is better off alone, which results in her once again running away.

In the memoir "A Piece Of Cake" we learn that the protagonist, Cupcake is a very strong minded person who is not afraid to tell anyone what she really thinks. We also learn that her legal name is La Vette but her mom calls her cupcake or cup for short and her dad often calls her Punkin. But even though cupcake being strong minded may seem like a good thing we quickly learn that it is what plays into a lot of her dilemmas for example, her relationship with her brother Larry. Through this we can see how her personality can sometimes cause her to get in a trouble as she is always fighting with him and is always looking to take revenge on him, even going as far as trying to poison him. Yet at the same time her strong mindedness is also what so far seems to have gotten her through such difficult situations like her moms death and her being raped. Because even in times like these where she is full of resentment and feels like giving up she doesn't and instead attempts to forget about it and not let it affect her, even when deep down she is hurting bad. We also known that Cupcake is a person who is very fond of both her parents despite the fact that they are divorced. And she also has a very close relationship to her Uncle Jr. who she describes as someone who she feels truly loved by because of how he practically saved her life.

Along with cupcake we also meet her brother Larry who is at first described in "A Piece Of Cake" as someone evil who Cupcake will seemingly never get along with because of how constantly they are fighting. However as get further into the book we see that he in a way has started to care more about Cupcake. Maybe it happened as a result of their moms death and them being put into the foster system together. An example of this would be when he asks Cupcake if she is okay and he appears to be genuinely concerned after seeing she can't walk well. But even so, Cupcake did runaway on her own not caring much about him and leaving him behind. But we might still see more of him because the author didn't mention not seeing him again which she did do for her biological father who she actually never saw after that.

Another character in the memoir "A Piece Of Cake" who seems to play an important role is Uncle Jr. who Cupcake knows loves her for sure. The author says this because Uncle Jr. left her in the car one day and told her not to mess with it unless she wanted to get whooped but when Cupcake touched something and ended up going down a hill her Uncle rushed out leaving everything behind just to save her. And as Cupcake states, it took seeing her uncle's face as she was going down, to know that he truly loved her. And even after that her uncle lied to Cupcakes mom so that she wouldn't get in trouble. We can also tell that he is a good person and formed an important role in Cupcakes life because of how he offered to take care of Cupcake and her brother Larry so that they wouldn't have to go with their biological father and also because of how Cupcake states that he never changed his number or his address so that they could always reach out to him when they needed his help.

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In the memoir A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown, the main character cupcake describes her life living with her mother while her brother Levi and her dad live somewhere else. The reason why they are separate is because of Cupcake and Levi's relationship, but they switch houses sometimes to visit the other parent. They truly hate each other so being in the same house would end up with somebody getting hurt. One day Cupcake checks on her mother only to find her unconscious. With the loss of their mother, they have to settle their differences and go to her funeral together, knowing how hard this was for everybody, especially not having much family outside of close ones. She then figures out that her dad isn't really "her dad" so her and her brother Levi have to go live with their biological father, Mr. Burns because of her mother passing away.

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In Cupcake Brown memoir "A Piece Of Cake", the protagonist, Cupcake brown is going through an abusive foster home that led her to run away for the first time. On page 31 she sneaks out of her window and starts running and running without knowing where shes going to go, "as i ran; because of the pain and shame of what Pete had done to me because i missed my momma, cried because of Diane's abuse, cried because i missed my daddy and uncle Jr". This quote highlights what Cupcake is feeling and that in the lowest moment of her mother dying she doesn't even get to mourn because she has to deal with abuse that occurs at her foster home. As Cupcake is eleven when this happens it's gonna affect her for the rest of her life and life decisions.

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In her memoir "A Piece Of Cake", Cupcake Brown has been taken away from her family and put in a foster home with Diane, once this happens she starts actually learning about the foster system which is something she never even knew existed. And while being in the system she learns that the kids tend to be placed wherever is available resulting in them getting beat up and abused. Being in this system, Cupcake herself has experienced this and has gone from being a little girl who knew nothing to thinking in a whole different way, which can be seen in pg.59 where Cupcake states "Life at Diane's had taught me how to put on a mask to make hurt and pain imperceptible. I'd learned that no matter how much someone hurt you, you never let that person know or see it." This quote really shows how Cupcake's view has changed and influenced her character since she went from being a young little girl with loving parents to being put in a really bad foster home. In which she got beat and abused so bad that she learned to hide her pain as a form of survival because she now knew that if she didn't hide it, it would bring others pleasure. And in a way Cupcake is putting herself in this state of mind because she knows that no matter what happens they're will always be hardships ahead and she would rather pretend not to care then let the world see her vulnerability.

Even though Cupcake is pretending that she doesn't care, deep down she hopes to get out of Diane's house and leave the foster system, that has put her through abuse time and time again. However these hopes began to die down on pg.71 when Cupcake states "But after four months after my being returned to Lancaster, the system unequivocally confirmed it really didn't give a shit about me." This quote is something Cupcake says after she is removed from Diane's house because of the nurse who had checked up on her and found Diane's whip marks all over Cupcakes back. After Cupcake is removed from Diane's house she is placed in a different home but only ends up being there for about a month. Until she inevitably is returned to Diane's house just like she has been every time she believed that it was over and that she had finally escaped. And her saying this after repeatedly being taken away from Diane just to be put right back with her just shows how Cupcake still had some hope in the system that only truly left after this incident, as it made her realize that no matter how hard she tried the system always failed her. Making her see that the system was just as messed up as everything else in her life. Which further pushed Cupcake into realizing that she was on her own and would have to find a way out by herself even if she had to turn tricks for it.

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Hate

Read the following quote from A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown and reflect on how you deal with problems in your own life with either running from them or fixing them. Then, use evidence to write an essay in which you defend, challenge, or qualify the implications made.

"I was grateful to be in school because it allowed me to get away from Diane during the day."

Loss

Read the following quote from A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown and reflect on how the loss of somebody affects yours, or another persons life. Does being closer with the person who passed away affect how you deal with the loss? Then, use evidence to write an essay in which you defend, challenge, or qualify the implications made.

"I don't know how I knew she was dead. I'd never seen death before. I just knew."

Differences

Read the following quote from A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown and reflect on how you deal with not getting along with another person. Do you think it's okay to not get along with your own family? Then use evidence to write an essay in which you defend, challenge, or qualify the implications made.

"...my brother, Larry. I hated Larry."

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In Cupcake Brown memoir A Piece Of Cake, the protagonist Cupcake goes through unthinkable life troubles that make her turn to drugs as a coping mechanism. Cupcake starts to abuse drugs as she only has herself to lean on. For Cupcake she felt drugs was an escape to make her feel better with everything that was going on in her life.

In a well written essay, develop your position of how the detrimental affects abusing drugs causes a young individual that may help make them build their character in the future . Use evidence from your personal experience, observations, and readings to support your position.

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In Cupcake Brown's memoir, "A Piece of Cake" main protagonist Cupcake is known for running away. It could be running away from home, her abusive caretaker, and even running away from her past. She does this in a way to feel free and in control of her own life. Similarly in the real world people tend to run away from there problems in hope for it to just end or go away. In a well-developed essay, develop your position on wether it is better to run away and ignore personal problems or face your problems head on. Use appropriate evidence from your experience, readings, or observations to support your position.

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Appearances

In this excerpt from the memoir "A Piece of Cake" by Cupcake Brown the main character Cupcake is a black teenage girl that takes advantage of how people of color are usually targeted and accused of stealing in order to distract the officers at a store from her white friend Dot who used her color to get away with stealing because both Dot and Cupcake knew that it would be easy to get away with stealing if done through Dot since

"She had to execute confidence and superiority. She had to be convinced of the fact that, as the white person, she was the good one, the safe one, the trustworthy one."

Like Cupcake and her friend Dot there are some situations in which people can take advantage of their race knowing that it may play a part in the appearance or impressions they create.

In a well written essay supported by evidence consider if race can influence appearances and be used to ones advantage.

Naivety

In Cupcake Brown's memoir "A piece of Cake" the teen protagonist Cupcake begans to get involved in a world of sex, drugs, and alcohol following her mothers death as she that in doing so she has become a grown adult but really her naivety remains and becomes present when she chooses to ignore the adults who are tyring to guide her in a better direction.

"Alcohol poisoning! Crazy white women! Wasn't no such thing. At least I'd never hear of such a thing. Rat poisoning, yes. I'd even tried it on an enemy or two. But alcohol poisoning? No way could alcohol be poison. Only a few sips and any fool could tell that it was happy juice!"

Like Cupcake their are teens who believe that being mature means drinking alcohol, doing drugs or having sex but even if they believe they have grown up most of the time they haven't so their naivety remains which can cause them to get into more trouble because they are too naive to listen to the adults who are trying to guide them.....

In a well written essay supported by evidence consider how a teens naivety can affect the decisions or actions they take. ...

Obstacles

Read the following quote from “ A Peice of Cake” a memoir by Cupcake Brown which revolves around the obstacles that the teenage protagonist has had to survive following her mothers death.These obstacles have caused Cupcake to runaway and have a change in perspective since she went for turning up her nose at the people  who ate the half-eaten burgers from a McDonald’s trash can to eating them herself. As Cupcake states

“At first, I said, "Ugh!" and turned up my nose at the thought. But, being hungry and with limited funds, I soon followed their lead.Besides, I'd tell myself, after the never-ending beans and half-cooked meat you've had to endure, these trash-can burgers are like steak!”

Like Cupcake, many people can go from judging other to then facing those obstacles themselves. And as a result of them going through such experiences  their mindset tends to change from someone who turned their nose up to someone who understands why certain people are living through such conditions.

In a well written essay supported by evidence consider how the obstacles people face throughout their lifetime can change their perspectives.

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In the memoir " A Piece of Cake" by Cupcake Brown, the main protagonist deals with the loss of her mother at a young age, being given up into an abusive foster home, and was even sexually assaulted. All these events cause her to become the wild and reckless person she is at the moment. She started to take hardcore drugs such as cocaine and acid. She was also jumped into a gang which she ended up shooting at someone with her gang affiliates. All of these events happened before the age of 18. With all this happening so fast in her life some main ideas taken out of this book are "Chaos,Trauma, and Death". These main events really added a sense of interest to the book while reading it.

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In the memoir "A piece of Cake" the main protagonist Cupcake lost her mother at the tender age of 11. This caused her to become rowdy and reckless and her life ended up going downhill due to drugs, prostitution, and becoming a gang member. In real life situations, some people may not know how to cope with a significantly important death in their life and it ends up taking a toll on their mental and physical health. In a well-developed essay give your position on how a significant death in ones life can cause a change in character development. Provide specific evidence from experience,readings,and obser

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In Cupcake Brown memoir A Piece of Cake, the protagonist Cupcake goes through life tragedies at just the age of eleven, she witnessed her mother dying and later on finding out her father is not her real biological father. She later on was forced into foster homes that would abuse her and lead her to run away multiple times trying to get to San Diego to stay with her Uncle.

In a well written essay develop your position on if having missing parental guidance either defines or changes the way someone acts. Use appropriate evidence from your readings, experience, or observations to support your position.

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In the memoir A piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown it follows the main protagonist Cupcake struggles and tragedies. At just the age of eleven she witnessed her mother dying and then having to go into foster care right away, as this happens her life starts to spiral. Her foster caretakers start to abuse her this leads her to run away and start doing drugs as a way to cope with what's going on as she feels lost.

"As i ran; because of the pain and shame of what Pete had done to me because i missed my momma, cried because of Diane's abuse, cried because i missed my daddy and uncle Jr ¨

In a well written develop your position if running away at someones lowest point is fixing their problems or hurting them more. Use appropriate evidence from your readings, experience, or observations to support your position.