1. Group E - lames25

In my book "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros I have noticed the main character feeling like everyone thinks the main character, Esperanza is weird and trying to fit in. Esperanza is a 12 year old girl struggles to find a sense of self identity within herself. She makes note multiple times that she wished she was like other girls she knew. "And I wish my name was Cassandra or Alexis or Maritza--anything but Esperanza" (Cisneros 15). Esperanza is growing up as a Mexican-American in a man's world. When you're growing up especially when you're 12, there will be people who will make you feel less than what you really are because they are looking to fit in themselves. Some people just don't care about others' feelings just to make a good joke. So yes, Esperanza, the main character does struggle with the feeling of people thinking she is weird and just trying to fit in. 

In my book Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero, it talks about a Girl named Gabi and her life as a Senior in high school being a bigger girl, having a beautiful but pregnant best friend, a gay best friend who just got kicked out, a meth addict dad, and a mexican mom. Through all these struggles and side problems for Gabi she still tries to overlook them. Gabi doesn't dwell on these problems or try to make them seem happier than they are. She simply lives through the conflicts. Based on my book a quote that relates is Gabi talking about her weight, “Note to self: lose some weight. It's senior year, after all.” (Quintero 9) This quote shows one of Gabis struggles is her appearance and her weight. Although she doesn't directly care enough about what people think, people commenting on her weight do make her want to change.

In my book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz it talks about Oscar de León is the main character in my book and he is a Dominican American who is a nerdy man, haunted by a family curse. The book goes on to talk about his life and the events he had to go through to get where he is now. Oscar is a Dominican American living in New Jersey and how he has faced struggles trying to find his place in the community, identity and mostly love. Currently the book talks about Oscar in highschool and how he is hopeless in love because he has been rejected by the girl in his SAT class for her older more abusive boyfriend. He is depressed and his feeling extremely isolated, puberty is taking over his self confidence and making his desire for love even stronger. Based on my book, my Character does not try to fit in and but he is judged based on his appearance and he hides himself from the social aspect of life because he is unsure of himself. He feels as though he left out or as he says locked in a closet. “Sucks to be left out of adolescence, sort of like getting locked in the closet on Venus when the sun appears for the first time in a hundred years. It would have been one thing if like some of the nerd boys I’d grown up with he hadn’t cared about girls, but alas he was still the passionate enamorao who fell in love easily and deeply”. (Díaz 23)

In the Book The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri is a book about a family that moves to Massachusetts from India. The mother Ashima is pregnant and tries to leave the hospital without naming him because of culture. The doctor says that can’t be done and they give him the name Gogol which is a pet name.  Ashima gets pregnant again and Gogol goes to school. Gogol then receives his “good name” Nikhil which is his more official name. Kids start making fun of Gogol’s name. Students wonder about his name as it's Russian but he is Indian. Eleventh grade he is a smoker and drinks which his parents do not know. He goes to a party at the college his dad works at and he meets a girl named Kim who he kisses and tells her his name is Nikhil. In my book, the Gogol is made fun of because of his name. They find his name to be weird because its not a normal name and its Russian which confuses them because he is Indian. “I'm Nikhil… prepared for her to challenge him to correct him to laugh at him … his face tingles whether from triumph or terror.” (96 Lahiri) This quote has him using his more official name. He says this to a girl and he thought that she was going to make fun of his name for not being a American name. 

We Are All That’s Left by Carrie Arcos is about a young woman who grew up in a village that is border between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In several places, it reaches a village Visegrad where Zara and her brother are growing up. They both live with their mother and father but their mother had a hard life growing up because her village was destroyed by war. Zara is taking a new photography class with no friends and her pictures were shown to everyone and they all gave her a weird look. which made Zara feel uncomfortable and she felt like she didn't fit in and she felt out of place. "I could try, but I'm not usually one for speaking up in class." (20 Arcos) this quote has her coming out of her comfort zone when the teacher was calling on everyone was in class and she didn't want to speak in front of everyone.