A little about me… In my free time I enjoy spending time with my friends, family, girlfriend, and my new puppy Mochi! Fun fact, Mochi has an instagram! @hotcocoamochi I love teaching her tricks and she has already learned how to shake, high five, skate, and currently in the process of peekaboo. I also love to play video games as I grew up playing Mario games and nowadays I find myself playing games like Overwatch, CSGO, and Rocket League. I also like to go skating and I love the beach. 

Funny story, I am colorblind and that has resulted in some precarious situations. One time when I was a little kid playing basketball, I became disorientated on exactly which way I should go to shoot. Unfortunately, in a flash, I catch a rebound being the tall nine year old I was. I then look around frantically as to what I should do because the nerves began to set in for a new player like me. I see a player down at the end of the court. They screamed, “PASS PASS”. Desperately, I chucked the ball down the court and then I heard the crowd go silent. My teammates gasp as the ball is then lightly laid up into our net. My teammates look at me with questioning eyes as they say, “Dylan are you colorblind?!” To their amazement, I say yes as my eyes shift to the floor. To no one’s amazement, that was the last year I ever played basketball! I apologize for the length of this story, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. 

English has always been one of my favorite subjects because it is so full of stories. I am a big fan of shows, movies, books, and Youtube. My favorite book of all time is The Great Gatsby and I am so glad I was forced to read in high school because it had so many elements that I admired with my favorite themes being the green light at the end of the dock and the glasses on the billboard. One of my all time favorite movie series is by the fantastic Studio Ghibli. Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and of course Totoro (hence the background). The art style, captivating characters, and above all else the beautiful storytelling always grabs my attention. It truly amazes me how creative authors and I am so glad that writing exists because without the wide variety of creative outlets, we wouldn’t be able to appreciate all the great wonders that have been published throughout the years.

I look forward to participating in this class with you all through this blog. I think it will be a lot of fun! Cheers and good luck during this semester and your future endeavors!

 One of the key aspects of Jerome however that I’ve noticed is the idea of him finding his voice, personality, and building his character. The most apparent example is seen with his speech impediment and stutter as a child. I connect with him as I have found trouble speaking as my nerves have always caused me to speak quickly, lose track of my thoughts, and sometimes stutter over my words. Comparably to him, this caused me to resort to creative writing and thoughts. I found comfort writing down my thoughts when I felt like I couldn’t get them out verbally. This is a side of Jerome I find admirable as he pushes past the barriers that were set for him, and he tried to develop his voice in lyrical poems. I also believe that this search through the route of music has allowed him to search for his character as seen on pages 135 when he wants to join the Last Poets. He also builds upon his character as he stands up to his father who beats him and his mother in the chapter “The Hatchet'' as well as when he stands up for his business of shoeshine at Roxy’s when he beats up Eric Webb on page 141. As a reader we learn a lot about Jerome through the sections when it is about Jerome in third person, but we also learn about other sides of Jerome in sections through the first person point of view of other characters such as Reggie when he talks about Jerome on page 86. He describes Jerome as fearless when he screams ‘Black Power’ to the police. This shows the admiration other characters had for Jerome and also represents the character development of Jerome as he feels connected to the Black Panthers. 

While reading about Jerome’s emotional clash in his youth, it reminded me of Holden Caulfield in the Catcher in the Rye who also experiences internal emotional struggles throughout his youth and college years. This struggle results in many chaotic actions that take a toll on Holden’s health, which is very similar to the chaotic events that took place throughout the early life of Jerome in which we are told. Overall, Jerome is one of the most fascinating characters I have read about and have connected with. I am looking forward to seeing how he continues to develop. Thank you for reading. 

This photo reminded me of the emotional struggle Jerome faced after the event at Hi-De-Ho Lounge.

During Reggie’s reminiscent narrative of his and Omar’s teenage life, we see “Up comes the police… Hank steps forward and sticks his fist in the air. “Black power! Black power!... They arrested him and threw him in the paddy wagon” (86) This act of defiance is significant in Omar’s development into his powerful and outspoken self as he builds a connection to the black power movement against oppression. While everyone else steps back, he takes the initiative to be the brave one going forward, but not without a cost. While Omar is engaging in this external conflict of man vs. society, he sacrifices his own safety as police/black relations have never been without violence. By engaging in this act, he start to build upon this layer of his character who wants to make imminent change in the world around him, and I believe this is why Cristine Otten puts this part of Omar’s childhood into the story as this sacrifice of safety and engagement into conflict is what propels Omar into the Poet in which he becomes. 

There is also an example from Omar’s youth where he makes the decision to leave his family/friends in Akron, leave his job at Firestone, and take a leap of faith moving to New York in an attempt to become part of the Last Poets. When Omar arrives in New York with no money left, “This rasta brother obviously thought… who’d let himself be robbed blind… well, he had nothing to steal, but this dude with the weird hat didn’t know that.” (303) Instead of playing the guys tricky game, Omar stole the money and ran as fast as he could. He got away, but I believe that the reason the author focuses on this scene is to show the lengths at which Omar went to follow his dream of becoming a Last Poet. He quite literally had nothing to his name when he got to New York, and he was willing to do anything, even steal, in order to continue towards his goals of New York. He sacrificed his stability and relationships in Akron to pursue this risky choice in New York. 

Through the childhood point of view of Omar, we are able to see how these early conflicts built the foundation for the character in which he becomes into his adulthood. This proud and outspoken poet who wasn’t afraid to speak up to authority, a character that was not afraid to dive into conflict with society, and his fate in order to become the person he desired to be. I believe that Christine Otten included these conflicts as well to allow for readers to relate to their own development. For me personally, my high school program was very difficult for me. I finished the program but not without making sacrifices. I wasn’t able to spend as much time with my family and friends as I had before joining, but this sacrifice wasn’t in vain. By overcoming doubts, my man vs. internal conflict, I had about finishing the program, I grew as a person as I learned the value of sacrifice and hard work. This was an aspect I related to personally and I believe that this theme allows for many others to relate to it in their own way. Whether it be sacrificing free time by getting a job to help out one’s parents, or enduring oppressive social culture that Omar and Felipe faced in their respective settings, it is definitely a lesson that many people can become enlightened on when comparing it to their own outside world. 

A sacrifice I thought of in a comparable novel is in Catcher In the Rye, when Holden Caulfield sacrifices his strongly held beliefs about the perils of adulthood. By opening his eyes and looking at the other side, he had a better understanding of what adulthood could be like, becoming more knowledgeable and open minded growing his character. The resolve from conflict/sacrifice can be growth, better understanding, and a more dynamic character.

This image reminds me of the theme I chose as it depicts a woman emotional while seeing a boat leave. It reminds me of one of my mom’s friends who came to America from Vietnam alone with their brother’s and sister as the parents couldn’t come with, but wanted to give them a better life. The parents sacrificed breaking the law and their safety so that the children could grow from their sacrifices and this ultimately became a significant part of the children's development. 

Beginning with one of the five stages involved in a “Coming of Age Story”, he demonstrates how he has shifted from a state of naivete into a state of knowledge. He writes about himself being cooler, fans, the AC turning on, and TNT. This represents his identity and the incorporation of his fans. He recognizes the truth that his famous personality is fueled by his fans and he gives recognition to his fans here. Without their support, ‘Tyler the Creator’ would cease to exist. This signifies his knowledgeable state where he recognizes the truth to his identity. He also shows signs of another one of the five stages being the state of inexperience and experience. He writes about how his pool is dangerous, if one doesn’t stop swimming in it they will drown and this is the pool he’s swimming in. This goes hand in hand with the lines prior when he says that if he is pulled over, he plays it cool. This signifies that he has experience in a world of danger and instilled conflict. This nod to man vs. society conflict shows that he recognizes the impact that him being black has on cops and police brutality/racial profiling in the temporal setting that is the 21st century. The pool represents this dangerous world where he has learned to live and survive due to his past experiences. 

There was also one line in particular that stood out that connected to current-day outside world conflict and his passions/beliefs. In one line, he asks how many riots will there have to be until Black Lives Matter? This not only demonstrates the conflict that is going on currently in the world, but also his position in the world. He is tired and fed up with how much external conflict continues to go on without any change. This encompasses the Coming of Age character as his wants don’t align with how the world operates and acts. This also develops his character as we begin to see his perspective on the world and how his presence/voice is heard in such. His opinion on the matter is shared with many around the world and is respectable that he put it into his music that would be heard by millions. 

Tyler the Creator demonstrates himself as a dynamic character with a significant theme seen in the title of the album as well as throughout his songs. He metaphorically compares himself to a tree in which his leaves took a while to bloom, but he bloomed nonetheless. He also refers to himself as a flower boy. This connection to growth, blooming, and a garden represents his maturing self understanding who he is more clearly as he is being rebirthed. This correlates with the questioning of his sexuality and understanding the layers of his character as he is developing. Another symbol that demonstrates his sexuality, but also his loss of innocence is when he says to not kill a rose before it could bloom. This represents the conflict he likely faced when learning about his sexuality

and change in himself. The killing of the rose is the conflict and how it could negatively impact him as he is developing, but this conflict was significant in his development into a reborn tree with his newfound self. This all comes together under the theme that sometimes conflict is necessary in order to develop

one’s character.

Another critical aspect similar in both the Coming of Age story and Flower Boy was how Tyler the Creator wrote about testing his boundaries. He wrote about telling kids they could be who they are, whether that be by dying their hair, using cologne/perfume, or manicuring their nails. This extends off of Tyler’s development and understanding of himself as a character where he is now comfortable enough to be himself, push his actions with what he feels comfortable with, and gain freedom from doing so in the world he was maybe 

hesitant or afraid of partaking in earlier. 

Overall, Tyler the Creator’s Flower Boy is a great representation of a protagonist’s Coming of Age Story. Prior to learning about the format of the Coming of Age Story, I had notice similarities between work’s character development but had never thought too much of it. Now noticing how it can be applied and instilled

into various works of storytelling, made me think about my own life and other stories I have read prior. It made me realize that my own life has had plentiful aspects of the Coming of Age Story, most notably in the last year when I have had a conflict with what career path I wanted to go down and who I wanted to become. I had epiphanies, conflicts, hard truths, and maturing into a state of realism where I realized what path was best for me. I also was able to see how it affected one of my favorite fictional characters, Holden Caulfield, from

Catcher in the Rye. With Holden, he experiences many internal conflicts which pushed him to understand himself, his situation, and experience many of the five stages. Overall, it made me realize that in many cases for one to grow, they experience conflict in order to understand themselves and the world around them. 

I chose this picture as it reminded me of the lyrics “Rooted from the bottom, bloomed into a tree” which represents the major theme in Tyler the Creator’s album Flower Boy in which he develops his character.

Beginning with the song by Meek Mill, “We Ball”, it encompasses the internal thoughts of the speaker in regards to the death of their close friend, Snupe. He uses figurative language such dark imagery when describing the murder of Snupe in the line, “They hit your homie and they knocked the soul out him”. This tone of aggression is contrasted by the lines before where he states, “I just want to see my niggas flossin’, Hundred Bands everytime I walk in.” This light imagery represents the hope he has for his friends around him as he wants to see them happy and succeed. This poem however lends itself more heavily to the dark imagery side as throughout it shows the mental struggle of the speaker. The speaker turns to the reliance on drugs to calm their mental depression as seen in the lines, “Taking perkys, man I fill my cup.” and “Prolly the reason why I keep taking these drugs quicker”. Throughout this poem the brutality that caused the death of his friend deepens his sad emotional state. However, it is seen through other literary devices such as metaphors, “Selling dog food tryna feed my pups.” This metaphor of puppies and dog food represents the selling of drugs, and resorting to illegal activities in order to feed his family/loved ones around him in a chaotic “dog’s” world. Having the strain of his family relying on him, they feel suppressed by the society pushing hardships onto their loved ones, such as the brutality upon Snupe. This in turn fulfills the author's purpose very well in representing their reasoning for their depression. This poem portrays many examples of the hardships one can have mentally and the thoughts that would be correlated with them. 

Another poem that greatly exemplifies the topic of depression derived from mental hardships is the poem “All Falls Down” by Kanye West. In the first four lines of the poem it is seen the lines have repetition in an AB AB pattern. The repetition of the words “all falls down” over and over exemplifies the major theme throughout the poem. The hopeless tone of things falling apart and giving up as a result is connected to the depression topic. The hopelessness is met with a bit of comedy. The sense that someone is laughing as they are crying is seen in the lines, “That major that she majored in doesn't make no money, but she won’t drop out, her parents will look at her funny.” Here we see the sense of failure and things falling apart as the woman in the poem drops out a few lines later. There is also symbolism throughout the poem as seen in the line, “She had hair so long that it looked like weave, then she cut if all off now she looks like Eve and she is dealing with some issues that you can’t believe.” Here hair is a symbol for the hardships that she is forced to deal with. As her hair grows out, her problems develop. Time goes by and as problems develop, she desperately wants to get rid of the hardships as she cuts off all her hair. It is then seen that the rhythm of the poem changes up right after as the speaker repeats the lines of “all falls down”. This change in rhythm and the inconspicuous “and well” alludes to the fact that the hope of change was in vain as the sentence falls off. The theme of hopelessness seen earlier is exaggerated in these lines as this ending portrays a nonexistent opportunity for change. This example of a woman’s life falling apart or not going to plan greatly sets up the theme of depression. By vividly describing the hardships while utilizing a hopeless tone it allows the reader to understand this poem’s purpose is to connect how hardships in one’s life can lead to mental distress. 

It is also important to note that in either poem, the authors utilize relatable examples so that the reader is able to recognize these events affect the mental state of many individuals in society. Examples such as losing a loved one, struggles proving, and struggling with one's education/future allow for these short stories to be more lifelike when placing them into real work context. For me personally, I have gone through mental hardships with the last year in particular. The example of choosing the wrong major and its importance of forging a path for the future resonates with me as I decided after many long and hard months that I wanted to change my career goals. Questions echoed throughout my mind whether or not I was making a mistake. The poem “All Fall Down” I feel like hit closer to home per se as the rhythmic nature wasn’t formal, but instead real and humane. This is a significant benefit to poems as the stories they tell allow for the reader to truly connect to the stories in which the author describes. Another example that I believe greatly correlates with the theme of depression is the poem by Simonne Stellenboom “Monsters at Home”. It is based on the idea internally is where the scariest monsters can linger and with it, the scariest thoughts. These internal struggles are a significant contributor to the mental stress many go through, and I believe that poems are a great platform for these range of themes to thrive in fulfilling their purpose and meaning.

I chose this image as it represents the internal conflicts that reside in many of us. 

I believe that it is important to tell stories for the reason of conveying meaning, but also so that others can tell their own stories too. I used to believe that themes only pertained to a particular story, but after seeing how a Hero’s Journey template could be compared to Tyler the Creator for example, it made me realize how present story elements are in all types of literature around us. Stories inspire individuals like Tyler the Creator to talk about their own story, and spread that inspiration. It allows for readers to see that we are all more connected than they may think. 

I also believe that it is important for those wide variety of stories to be told. After analyzing poetry, it allowed me to see that poetry truly is beautiful in how many pieces of writing it encompasses. By reading different styles of literature such as rap, it allows for the reader to understand different styles of literature can teach in different ways. Whereas a book may teach through example, poems seem to teach more through communication and soulful diction. By telling stories in new and differing ways, it allows for a reader to have a more diverse understanding of communication and ideas. 

I included this image to demonstrate how literature/stories allow for individuals to share their experiences and ideas.