Personal Response to Text

Being a teenager can be difficult

Everyone knows growing up is a difficult thing. People are faced with multiple challenges, and how an individual deals with those challenges makes them who they are. And through all the tests of life most people would agree that your teens are the hardest.

Now compared to the lives that Shakespeare’s famous teen stars Romeo and Juliet lead, my life seems pretty mellow. I have fantastic friends, and a tremendous family who love me unconditionally. My parents got me involved in sports at a young age which kept me busy and out of trouble. I am dedicated to everything I do whether it be sports or school and always try my best to give one hundred percent. Although my life is great and I am very blessed, there is some classic teenage problems that I deal with.

First off being a teenage girl I feel is a lot worse than being a teenage boy.

Boys can just punch each other a bit and call it quits, but girls on the other hand are nasty. I have gone from being best friends with a girl to her hating me for no reason. Another hard thing about being a teenage girl is, girls always talk behind each others backs. With girls it will never be just between two people, everyone always finds a way to be involved.

Another aspect of being a teenager that is difficult is the huge decisions you have to make that will affect the rest of your life. Since registering for high school last year I have had to make decisions that will setup the platform for the rest of my high school career an eventually my life. The first major decision was if I should take the Humanities course or English and Social courses. Well it is apparent which one I have chosen, the reasons I chose it was because I believe the Humanities course prepares you for university and also the life of business after university. And I can truthfully say so far in my humanities journey my initial reasons for choosing the course stand true. The other decision I had to make was taking a 20 level science in the second semester of grade 10. Now this was something I really wanted to do because I want to take all my sciences and it would be great if I take one earlier I worked really hard to achieve success so I would be able to take Biology 20 but in the end my marks were good but not good enough.

So overall there are not that many things that make my life that difficult other and those to things. Sure there are days when I think my life sucks, my parents aren't fair and the days when I think why me? So when I have those days I just remember how in the grand scheme of things my life is pretty darn good.

I believe that Juliet has changed since the beginning of the play…

            In the play Romeo and Juliet, Juliet is a dynamic character because she develops abundantly as a person throughout the play. At the start of the play Juliet is talking with her mother, Lady Capulet, about the potential of getting married to the county man Paris. Juliet states, “It is an honour I dream not of,” (Shakespeare, pp. Act 1, Scene 3, Line 67) when asked if she wanted to wed. This is an example of how she is young and naive at the start of the play. However as the play goes on Juliet becomes determined and courageous. She provides evidence for both of these starting in Act 4, Scene 1 after Romeo has been banished for Tybalts death and Juliet is told she will marry Paris. Juliet shows her determination for Romeo by going to Friar Laurence’s to come up with a plan to runaway with Romeo. When the Friar gives Juliet a sleeping potion she takes it even though she does not know what is exactly going to happen. This shows her determination to be with her beloved Romeo. An example showing Juliet’s courage is when she wakes up from her sleep in the tomb and sees Romeo dead. Juliet felt she needed to be with her lover for the rest of her life and had the courage to follow through with it. That is why Juliet has changed since the beginning of the play. She went from the naive girl, to the confident and determined women.


Reflection
I included two journal entries one form Romeo and Juliet where I displayed why Juliet changed throughout the play and one where we had to respond to the statement of being a teenager can be difficult. I included the first Romeo and Juliet     response because I feel it s my best work with personal response to texts. I gave multiple examples to back why I believed Juliet had grown. I chose the personal response of being a teenager can be difficult because it was something that was meant to be personal but could easily be general. I feel I did a good job of making it personal and getting away form my usually general writing. 


General Learner Outcomes  

• G.O.1 - Explore thoughts feelings and experiences 
• G.O.2 - Comprehend a variety of texts and respond critically, personally and creatively