JD Sallinger and Holden Caufield

I can connect JD Salinger to Holden Caufield. They seem to have the same attitudes about life plus the fact that they both switched from school to school, not really belonging anywhere. In this sense, I can get a better idea of who Caulfield is and who Salinger is as a person. I have a better understanding of Holden after reading about Salinger because I know how similar they are and I can picture it in a more realistic setting. At the same time, because I can understand Salinger so well, I know that Holden is probably like him, wanting to be alone, but at the same time, not wanting to be lonely, Hating themselves for the even the most natural things, and wanting love even in his solitude from the world. I've definitely connected to Salinger as a writer because I know how it is to hate the feelings you have even though theyre perfectly natural but shameful nonetheless. Also, being able to take a step back and look at society as a whole and how people are. It's a strange experience but it gives you such a better understanding of why things are how they are.

Connecting with Holden

I believe the hey concept of Catcher in the Rye is to demonstrate and give an example of the psychological struggles of teenagers battling depression and issues with self expression. In Holden's case, these thoughts and actions were most likely brought on by the death of his brother. This is shown when he breaks the windows in his garage the night his brother dies. Children and teenagers have the state of mind where they don't connect with death. It's something far off and intangible. So when a person close dies, or they have an encounter with it, it can pave the way for trauma or psychological issues. This is more likely in people such as Holden that have a hard time expressing their emotions in the first place. He is shut off from the world and probably doesn't have very good communication skills. So his pent up hurt and depression and anger is all held within himself until those wounds fester within his mind. This is why he has difficulty connecting with people and communicating.

I almost feel like all of these random thoughts in his head such as the ducks at the pond are distractions from the truth that he's hurting. If he doesn't think about it. He won't have to face it. But that also means he's never dealt with it. I can connect with holden about this. I also have trouble expressing myself and my emotions. And I would rather disconnect from a horrible situation than deal with it and cope. When my mother was in the hospital a year ago, she almost died. I didn't feel sad, I didn't cry, I didn't really feel anything because I disconnected and chose not to cope with those emotions. As a result, I don't won't know how to deal with something like that when it happens again and I could develop psychological issues like depression or rage. On top of this, I've read a lot into psychology lately and plan to study it, so I have an easy time connecting to Holden and his character's issues.

JD Salinger (Not Selinger :P)

If there were a new JD Salinger work, Im not sure how it would go. Obviously, his last work was a total flop. Maybe he should have just stopped with Catcher in the Rye and ended on a high note. I can understand why he would want to stay out of the limelight though. Look at what happens to the celebrities that embrace it. Next thing you know, scandals pop up, like with Tiger Woods. And people don't shut up about it for months, even years on end. I love how the media tries to demonize people for avoiding them and refusing to talk to the press. They try to make it out like theyve got something to hide. No, they just don't want millions of people that don't give a damn about them to judge them and get into their personal business. JD Salinger had a right to his privacy so I respect that. It must be frustrating for all people to see you as is that one guy that wrote that famous book. Anywho, about him coming out with a new work, I don't think it'd turn out that great. It's hard to follow up a book likie Catcher in the Rye and he was a legend because of it so why not stop there.

A Day In Other Shoes

The day of our project went well. We got many reactions. Like our plan, we woke up at 5:30 and got dressed. Then Hana came over to my house around 6 AM and we did makeup and hair, though we didn't have time to tease it very well before I had to take Lani to daycare and get to school for Madrigals at 7:30. I got a few reactions while there. Soup and Sam Mitro saw us in the parking lot from a few spots down and commented that I looked different, but they couldn't tell the difference in Hana from a distance. Sam saw me again in Madrigals and she asked why I was dressed like that. I replied that there was no reason and asked if she liked it. Sam replied, "Sure, I mean it's still you." So she was really cool about it. A bit later, Roy walked in, looked at me and said "Oh wow...." almost sarcastically. He hates scene kids but he knew it was for the english project so he just found it funny. After Madrigals, I went to Algebra. Mrs. Campbell was passing out our homework and when she got to my row (I sit in the front desk) she looked curious and said "You usually don't wear that much make up". She didn't really treat me any differently though.

After first hour it was time to leave for the art trip. People going on the trip mainly were curious and asked why we were dressed the way we were. I think they knew what was going on though so after awhile they didn't really pay us much mind. At the first antique store, the older lady behind the counter gave us a strange look at first, but didn't treat us very differently. I bought a pretty bronze fan that Hana wanted mwahaha. We went to the second antique store right off Dirksen and we seemed to get more reactions there. The woman behind the counter seemed almost cautious of us and didn't greet us or smile. I felt as though she was judging us and trying to figure out whether we were going to steal something. I didn't see her look though as we started holding hands. There was another couple in the store, an old lady and her husband. They have us almost rude looks and then avoided eye contact. Wherever I looked for objects for my project, they would seem to steer clear of. I went back up to the counter after making all of my purchases and I began talking and joking with the lady that had given us judgmental looks before. She seemed much more at ease once she saw my true personality and I think she knew that I wasn't the type of person she most likely labeled me as before. My goal was to get people to realize this: that who I was as a person was much different from what they probably labeled me at first sight.

Our next stop was downtown Springfield. There was talk of Coldstone which made me happy haha. Anyways, we started looking for places to eat before going to the museum. We found a bistro and walked in to eat. Once again, the lady working there gave us strange looks, but after I went up to order my food and began talking and joking with her, she saw how polite I was and was put at ease. Hana and I ate and then began walking back to the museum. There were two guys in a van parked at the side of the street. One of them saw us holding hands and sort of flashed us a smile and raised his eyebrows like he was flirting. That sort of scared us and we rushed to leave them behind. The workers at the museum treated us normally. I didn't really notice anymore strange looks the rest of the day. Maybe because my feet were so sore from the uncomfortable shoes I wore haha. But Hana is also much more observant than me so I think she noticed much more than I did.

I do have respect for scene and emo kids, just like everybody else. I really don't have much sympathy for how long it takes them to get ready in the morning because that's their choice. However, I do sympathize with how it must feel to have everybody judging them just because they choose a certain style.

Social Experiment Plan

My group is Hana, Ashley Terry and myself of course :) Our plan was to dress completely scene/emo and see what reactions we got. In case you don't know, scene is what the girl in the picture above looks like. Hana also decided to pretend to be a lesbian so we were going to hold hands. We were going to carry out our plan on the art trip today while we visited various antique stores (With plenty of judgmental old ladies) and took a trip downtown. Yesterday, we planned for our trip by going to the mall and Gordman's to look for scene clothes. I bought a rainbow zebra print wristband with a torn, colorful but mostly black shirt and various accessories like bracelets, colored hair extensions, and even hair dye. We got up at 5:30 in the morning to begin getting ready by doing our hair and make up. We were almost late for school even within an hour after starting. Below is pretty much what our outfits and makeup looked like. Neither of us were very comfortable lol. I predicted that we would get many stares and perhaps some catty comments.

Stuff and things :)

Yay it's Leah face's blog! Life goes well, I am excited about blogging for English and it will be super hardcore once Mr. Toland gets his smartboard. I was writing down my favorite movies and Ponyo is def. one of them. Everybody should see it. Hana and I drove movie-theatre-goers nuts with our constant squealing at it's cuteness. Bell's gonna ring so bye lovely english honors people :)