Mia Barletta - Dialectical Journal by https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9 The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls en-us 2017-12-11 22:42:17 UTC 2018-02-01 13:51:09 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padletuploads.blob.core.windows.net/aws/80961422/f3ce7749a9d5e7071c220444b031fa3993493cf0/926da18fbe111c4acc55d6aeb6b6e75d.jpg Personal Biography and Book Choice mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/215244835 I chose to read the memoir titled The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls. This book recounts the unconventional and poverty filled upbringing that Jeannette Walls and her siblings had. They were raised by their deeply dysfunctional parents who never settled in one place. I choose this memoir because I am someone who enjoys to read about an authors personal experiences and how their writing is impacted by their past. I also enjoy when the author retells their troubling life story and how they overcame these obstacles throughout the book. ]]> 2017-12-11 22:42:17 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/215244835 Quote #2 "I lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire. It was the sort of knowledge that kept you on your toes" (34). mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/215244836 The way Jeannette describes her world wouldn't be too concerning only if she didn't mean it in the literal sense. Jeannette has experienced two llifethreatening fires in her life, both of which could have been prevented if she lived in a stable home with responsible parents. Jeannette has a dangerous attraction to fire, which is almost fueled by her parents. They want her to overcome her fears and live in a world where you become stronger only by the things that don't kill you. Jeannette is fascinated with the both the good and bad that a fire can do, and I think this serves as a symbol for her tumultuous childhood, with both its excitement and surmounting danger. ]]> 2017-12-11 22:42:17 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/215244836 "Dad had been fired from the barite mine, we were able to continue living in the depot by paying rent to the mining company, since not a lot of other families were vying for the place" (76). mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/215244837 Vying (verb) is to strive for superiority / compete eagerly with someone in order to do or achieve something.
Original sentence - Our team vied for the national championship, we worked harder in practice than ever before.
]]> 2017-12-11 22:42:17 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/215244837 Week 1 (pages 1-93) mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/215244838 December 11, 2017  (Quote Ranges: 1-30, 30-60, 60-93)]]> 2017-12-11 22:42:17 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/215244838 Quote #1 mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/215246079 "Mom always said people worried too much about their children. Suffering when you’re young is good for you, she said. It immunized your body and your soul, and that was why she ignored us kids when we cried. Fussing over children who cry only encourages them" (28).
Jeannette grew up with this unconventional parenting style as portrayed by her mother's harsh statement. Her mother was one who strongly opposed society's rules which she let her children know through her rather tough parenting style. So far throughout the book, I have been appalled at the way Jeannette's parents treat their children and what that must have been like growing up. From a reader's perspective, I have the insight to how dysfunctional her parents truly are, but the kids are still too naive to believe that their parents are anything less than perfect. ]]> 2017-12-11 22:49:19 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/215246079 Quote #3 mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/215246103 "Dad kept telling me he loved me, that he would never let me drown, but you can't cling to the side your whole life... If you don't want to sink, you better figure out how to swim" (66).
     Jeannette lives under her fathers spell and manipulation at a young age. I was shocked by the events surrounding this quote. Her father almost drowned Jeannette, yet she looks up to him and is beyond naive that she thought it was okay, that he was only doing these things for her own benefit. She has never questioned what her father has done because she thinks so highly of him. I'm excited to see Jeannette grow up throughout the book, and when she will realize that her father is not the man she grew up idolizing and that building the Glass Castle is nothing but a myth. ]]> 2017-12-11 22:49:29 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/215246103 Week 2 (pages 94 - 188) mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/216823027 December 17, 2017 (Quote ranges: 94-124, 125-155, 156-188 )]]> 2017-12-18 00:10:42 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/216823027 Quote #1 mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/216823171 "I began to have my own doubts about what he was up to. He came home in such a drunken fury that mom usually hid while we kids tried to calm him down. He broke windows and smashed dishes and furniture until he spent all his anger; then he'd look around at the mess and us kids standing there" (112).
       Jeanette grew up with a father who was a drunk. He was a violent alcoholic who put the lives of his family in danger every time he drank. However, this was one of the first instances of the book that Jeannette realized or finally questioned he father's integrity. Later in the section, she made her only birthday wish to be that her dad stopped drinking, but he couldn't do it. Because of her drunken father and unreliable mother, she and her siblings often had to fend for themselves when it came to eating. Jeannette's irresponsible parents led her to live an unconventional and dangerous lifestyle that often put her life at risk growing up. ]]> 2017-12-18 00:12:52 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/216823171 Quote #2 mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/216823212 "As we fought, they called me poor and ugly and dirty, and it was hard to argue the point. Erma allowed us only one bath a week in four inches of water that had been heated on the kitchen stove and that all us kids had to share. I thought of discussing the fight with dad but I didn't want to sound like a whiner" (140).
      Erma is Jeannette's harsh, cold-hearted grandmother. This particular passage stood out to me because her grandmother made her grandchildren suffer for no apparant reason. She forbids of laughter in her house, she beats the children shall they disobey her, and she refuses to leave her house because she is so repelled by African Americans. Jeannette has yet to stand up to her, but I believe there will be a falling out soon with Erma. Jeannette is also afraid of bringing up the issue to her drunken father who would only make her situation worse. So far throughout the book, Jeannette has been faced with numerous dangerous situations that she has constantly had to deal with on her own. She can't even rely on her parents or any other adult in her life to help her stand up that the bullies that beat her up every day at school.  ]]> 2017-12-18 00:13:18 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/216823212 Quote #3 mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/216823242 "She said that sexual assault was a crime of perception. 'If you don't think you're hurt, then you aren't" (184).
"Mom, you have to leave dad. We can't go on living like this" (187).
I chose two quotes that I thought were very significant for this section. Jeannette had been sexually assaulted by her own uncle and this is all her mother had to say about it. It is evident that Jeannette is very strong for her age, but no child should have to go through something like this. Sexual assault is a reoccurring theme in this book, and each time there has been absolutely nothing done about it from preventing it from happening again. Also, Jeannette is only 12 at this time and she is come to the realization that her life would be better without her father in it. They are barely scrapping by right now, and she tells her mother that they'd be eligible for welfare, which her mother is strongly opposed to.  She is extremely mature for her age and wants to do anything to make her living situation bearable for her and her siblings.  ]]> 2017-12-18 00:13:39 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/216823242 Vocab mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/216823273 "Although we lived outside the district, Mom begged and cajoled the principal until he allowed us to enroll" (95).
Cajole (verb) - to persuade someone to do something by sustained coaxing or flattery.
Example - The girl fluttered her eyes and pouted her limp as a way of cajoling him to buy her the expensive gift. ]]> 2017-12-18 00:14:04 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/216823273 Week 3 (pages 189-288) mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/218409895 January 1, 2018 (Quote ranges: 189-220, 221-250, 251-288)]]> 2018-01-02 22:18:01 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/218409895 Quote #1 mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/218829659 "But if the child-welfare man got it into his head that we were an unfit family, we'd have no way to drive him off. He'd launch an investigation and end up sending me and Brian and Maureen and Lori off to live with different families, even though we all got good grades and knew Morse code. I couldn't let that happen" (195).
At this point in Jeannette's life, she was still naive as too how unhealthy her lifestyle was. She couldn't bear to be separated from her siblings. However, she has the wrong perception as to what was important, not just getting good grades and knowing Morse code. She needs parents that won't neglect their children. Jeannette is lacking responsible parents, and at this point in her life she is yet to confront them on the suffering they have caused for her and her siblings. ]]> 2018-01-04 19:20:30 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/218829659 Quote #2 mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/218829808 "Because we never subscribed to magazines or newspapers, I'd never known what was going on in the world, except for the skewed version of events we got from Mom and Dad. I began to feel like I was getting the whole story for the first time and the world was making a little more sense" (205).
I saw this moment as a turning point in the memoir of Jeannette's life. She began working with her school newspaper, as this is something she loved to do. By working there, she was finally exposed to the truth and reality of the world she lived in. She was able to escape the manipulation of her parents and see their lies once and for all. Her parents only told her what they wanted her to believe. But now she knows better with this new source of information from the outside world. ]]> 2018-01-04 19:20:59 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/218829808 Quote #3 mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/218829898 "I decided I was going to get out of Welch. The sooner, the better. Before I finished high school, if I could... People got stuck in Welch. I had been counting on Mom and Dad to get us out, but I now knew I had to do it on my own" (221). 
Jeannette is now turning into an independent woman, as she faces the reality that she will be better off without her family. She doesn't know where she will go, but she knows she has to escape when her siblings are old enough. She has been acting as a parent for them as her Mom and Dad neglect to feed or care for them. Jeannette knows that there's a better life for her somewhere, and her only chance of getting it is if she leaves Welch and her incompetent parents behind. ]]> 2018-01-04 19:21:18 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/218829898 Vocab mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/218829967 "She went to the window and looked out at the brick and limestone apartment buildings across the street. 'I don't really like Park Avenue,' she said. 'The architecture is too monotonous'" (269).
Monotonous (adjective) - dull, tedious, and repetitious; lacking in variety and interest.
Example - The monotonous lecture put all of the students to sleep. ]]> 2018-01-04 19:21:31 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/218829967 Quote #4 mia_barletta https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/218852677 "I usually gave homeless people whatever spare change I had, but I couldn't help feeling like I was trying to ease my conscience about Mom and Dad wandering the streets while I had a steady job and a warm room to come home to" (256).
The setting of Jeannette's life now takes place in New York City. All of her siblings moved there for better lives, where they have apartments, jobs, and attend school all because of their hard work and will not to be like their parents. They all support one another. However, as their lives improve, their parents lives are greatly struggling.They ended up following their children to the city and continue to wreck havoc on their stable lives. They no longer have their children to support them and are content with being homeless on the streets of NYC, while Jeannette and her siblings prosper. ]]> 2018-01-04 20:51:48 UTC https://padlet.com/mia_barletta/rs5e6ir5naj9/wish/218852677