Jesse’s Comments (group member since Oct 25, 2016)

Jesse’s comments from the 833 Reading Responses group.

Question: Identify significant moments in the text. Why are they significant?
Area of Improvement: Analysis to try and add cause and effect
In the memoir, The Privilege of Youth by David Pelzer, an important moment that happens in the text is when David fears the worst when Dan Brazell is dead because Dan was a very close friend to him. He died because he was a shooter at a school shooting. It’s also the same school David’s son goes to. He is ok, but David can’t breathe. He rushes out of Chicago to pay his condolences to the Brazell family. David states on page 64, “’Oh my God, Oh my God, I’m going out the next flight out of Chicago. I need to see the Brazell’s. Oh Lord, this is happening to fast,’ I said to my wife.” This moment is significant because it shows how David cares about Dan and how worried he is about him. He is showing that he is willing to leave his job in Chicago to go to his funeral. Dan is like a godfather to him. Therefore, David fears the worst when Dan is killed.

In the non-fiction memoir, A Child Called It, by David Pelzer, David is motivated to survive and escape Mother beating and abusing him by getting food. Throughout the book, David is abused by Mother because Mother enjoys it. David is also starved while forced to do chores and clean with his bare hands. On page 127, it states, "I had nothing left. Mother had gotten rid of all the food, chores were getting worse, and I was getting more bruises and burns by the second." This moment is significant because David is no longer able to survive without food. Even though all hope is lost, David remains optimistic and continues to fight for survival. David knows what's at stake. What he doesn't know is that there are other ways to escape Mother as well.

Question:What is an important choice or action your character made?
In Chris Lynch's realistic fiction novel, Vietnam Sharpshooter, Ivan decides go in guns blazing by himself in order to secure a city in Vietnam, because he feels that it is necessary for putting his life in danger in order to save the rest of his platoon. Ivan knows that one small mistake, he's dead and so is the operation. Ivan decides its necessary to go in guns blazing by himself to distract the Vietnamese troops. On page 116, it states, "I took my heavy artillery M-47 and went out. I knew that I was being watched. I started firing until I had no more ammo. The distraction was working as Lt. Syfer was already in position." This moment shows how important Ivan distracts ALL the Vietnamese troops or else he can die and so will the rest of his platoon. If Lt. Syfer wasn't in postion and Ivan had ran out of ammo, the operation would be blown.