Curation Board Week 2 Rebecca Gunnin by Rebecca Gunnin

Element #1: Research

rgunni6660 — 2017-05-02 15:15:45 UTC

Domestic violence and drug abuse tend to go hand in hand, and the case is no different for Oliver's family. Oliver's father drinks, and shortly after begins abusing his family. While domestic violence is not always physical, and the drug use isn't always alcohol, this is the case for Oliver's family in "Everything, Everything". Domestic violence is often overlooked and blamed on the victim, which is a large contributing factor to the increase of domestic violence over the years. Placing blame on the victim won't help the situation at all, and could even prevent the victim from getting the help they need.
The most disturbing example of the physical abuse in the novel is when Madeline looks out this window and makes this observation, "Olly rushes between [his mother and his father], but this time his dad is ready. Quicker than I've ever seen him move, he lets go of Olly's mom, grabs the collar of Olly's shirt, and punches him in the stomach. His mom screams, then I'm screaming too. He punches him again" (Yoon 135). This excerpt from the novel shows the severity of the abuse and how it effects people. Abuse doesn't just effect the victim, it effects the victims family, friends, and community. Although in this case Olly is the one being abused, his mother is being abused as well.

Works Cited

rgunni6660 — 2017-05-02 15:29:17 UTC

Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. .
SCID Timeline. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. .
Yoon, Nicola. Everything, Everything. New York: Penguin Random House, 2015. Print.

Element #2: Respond to the Text

rgunni6660 — 2017-05-03 15:08:36 UTC

A prominent theme in Everything, Everything is the experience and emotions resulting from teenage love. Madeline's love interest in the novel is Oliver, a seemingly mysterious boy with a crooked smile and taste for danger. A result of Madeline's feelings for Oliver is her longing to go outside, something that will almost certainly result in her death. Her feelings about Oliver overpower her fear of death, as clearly shown in Madeline's farewell letter to her mother in the lines, "Do you remember when we read The Little Prince together for the first time? I was so upset that he died in the end. I didn't understand how he could choose death just so he could get back to his rose. I think I understand it now. He wasn't choosing to die. His rose was his whole life. Without her, he wasn't really alive" (Yoon 169). The media used is a painting of the rose mentioned in The Little Prince along with an excerpt from the story, which describes Madeline's emotion towards Oliver well.

Element #3: Reflect on the Text

rgunni6660 — 2017-05-03 15:09:53 UTC

"Everything, Everything" has taught me a lot of things, one of them being to place my own needs before others. For the majority of my life thus far, I've always put others' needs and emotions before my own, which often resulted in my being used. I've slowly come to the realization that I should at least have enough respect for myself to take care of myself before I take care of others. In "Everything, Everything", Madeline often places her mother's emotions before her own, resulting in her unhappiness for a large portion of her life so far. She eventually comes to the conclusion that it's unhealthy to remain so unhappy just so her mother is content, and runs away. Before she runs away, however, she recieves an email from a doctor in Hawaii that treated her and believes that Madeline doesn't, and never has had, SCID, the immunodeficiency disorder she's been treated for all of her life. She brings the letter to her mother, who responds by mainly ignoring any possibility of this and repeatedly asking Madeline, "'Want to have a slumber party? she asks again, patting the bed. 'I'll feel better f you stay with me.' But I'm not sure I will" (Yoon 267). Here you can clearly see the growing doubt Madeline has for her mother's sanity and how much she should sacrifice to make her mother happy. The media I used was an image containing the timeline for SCID, which coorelates directly to the story considering that Madeline was misdiagnosed and treated for it.