Turning Point: A Quote Analysis

Author's Note:  This is a scene analysis assignment for language arts on the book Speak.  I chose to analyze the entire chapter titled "Riding Shotgun" on pages 120-123.  I believe this is a scene analysis, but may also be a prediction.  Please let me know if this is only a prediction.

In this chapter, Melinda is going to go shopping with her mom.  While she is out during, what she calls, a blizzard, Mr. Freeman offers her a ride, and she accepts.  I believe this entire chapter is a turning point in Melinda's actions.  The blizzard may symbolize her tough times, and when Mr. Freeman offers her a ride, it is an opportunity to right herself.  While conversing with Mr. Freeman, Melinda finds that she is able to speak her opinions when she said," I don't know anything.  My tree sucks," and when she explained her situation with putting emotion into her art.  Also, when Melinda is about to leave, Mr. Freeman says, "Melinda.  You're a good kid.  I think you have a lot to say.  I'd like to hear it," I believe he was able to figure out Melinda is willing to speak to, and is telling her that if there is something wrong, he is the right person to talk to.  After that car ride, Melinda decides to study more, which pays off on her next assignments, and she was able to converse with Ivy at the mall.

Quarantined

Author's Note:  This is a fictional piece about New York City getting bombed and how the US left them behind.  It is the beginning part to Mrs. Reagles' journal ending prompt.  What decided the topic was when I read the ending prompt, it reminded me of a game I've played, so I decided to write something similar to it.

A large crowd of people rioted at the base of the large statue once called the Statue of Liberty.  Molotov cocktails sailed through the air.  Signs with hateful writing dotted the landscape.  Fights broke out all over the crowd.  All this hatred was for what?  Bad governor?  Taking down the statue?  Nobody knew.  Just before the rioters got completely out of control, a large explosion engulfed everybody of New York City.

When I finally came to, everything had turned into even more chaos.  Bodies littered the ground, most probably not dead, but I wasn't so sure.  Cars lay on their hoods, some with their drivers still on the inside.  Buildings had crumpled and crashed onto the streets.  For the people that had already risen, they had no idea what was happening, and decided running in circles was the only answer.  That's when the gangs of New York came to power.  

They were simply called The Bronx.  Everybody had heard of them.  Robbing banks, kidnapping celebrities, and murder were only just a few crimes they had committed.  This was only before the explosion.  Now, these hooligans controlled all of New York City.  Because of all the chaos, the police had so many cases to cover that there simply was no way to handle all of them and they soon found themselves to be overwhelmed.  The Bronx took advantage of this and soon, the government crashed into oblivion.

Why was it so easy for The Bronx to take over all of New York City?  Easy.  Since the US was scared the explosion may spread disease all across the nation, they decided to quarantine the entire city.  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw all of those gates constructed so quickly.  They were treating us like animals.  It was only a matter of time before The Bronx killed everybody.

As I was roaming the streets of New York, I found myself strolling George Washington Bridge.  What once used to be a beautiful bridge now stood a hanging catastrophe.  I continued walking along the bridge until I found myself reach the quarantine patrol gate.  Armed men with machine guns stood atop of it and stared blankly down towards the people below.  I found myself suddenly pounding on the gates, trying to release all the anger that had bottle up in me in the past few hours.  Within in seconds, the machine guns opened fire, and sent me plunging into the icy waves below. 

The Huntress, The Fireman, and The Emperor

What possibly could a 16-year old girl, a 30-year old grown man, and a male jailbird have in common?  You probably are thinking that there is no way they have anything in common.  Well you'd be right, unless you've read The Hunger Games, Fahrenheit 451, and Harrison Bergeron.  Katniss, Harrison, and Montag  all live in a society heavily controlled by their government.

In all three stories, the government has complete control over everybody.  In The Hunger Games, the government controlled where everybody could go, and took away privileges, like hunting.  Owning books in Fahrenheit 451 is outlawed to the point where firemen come to your house and burn it down.  To keep everybody in Harrison Bergeron equal, the government forces its citizens to be handicapped in numerous ways, ranging from lead weights to head phones.

As you can see, these characters all faced very controlling governments, but they also opposed these controlling governments.  In the book The Hunger Games, it was illegal to hunt.  Katniss, however, hunted to feed her family and also sold some of her meat to earn some money.   Although this is only a small act against the Capitol, it is still an act of defiance nonetheless.  Also, at the very end of the Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta are the final two contestants in the arena.  In an act of defiance, they refuse to kill each other.  They both demand to be winners, and threaten to  commit suicide at the same time if this does not happen..

Katniss was not the only one to oppose her government.  Montag, from Fahrenheit 451, opposed the government by owning books, which was illegal.  This is actually very ironic because his previous job was being a fireman, which required him to burn and destroy books.  Harrison, from the story Harrison Bergeron, opposed his government by refusing to wear  his handicap equipment.  Once he stopped wearing it, he freed some ballerinas from their handicap equipment and tried showing the world how much fun it is to be unique.

These characters all opposed their governments in some way, but not all of them faced the same outcome.  When Katniss opposed the government, the Capitol warned her to stop.  Unfortunately for the Capitol, the damage had already been done. A  revolution to overthrow the Capitol began, and it was eventually successful.  Montag's obsession with books soon became known, which got the attention of the firemen.  Once the firemen arrived, Montag panicked and ended up killing Beatty, which forced him to stay on the run until the government found a scapegoat to punish.  Finally, unfortunately for Harrison, he faced the worst outcome.  Because of his actions, the Handicap General shot and killed Harrison while he was on TV. 

Katniss, Montag, and Harrison all lived in societies where the government was oppressive.  All three characters refused to blindly follow their government rules. They knew their governments were unfair, so they opposed them.  Their opposition met with different levels of success.