Notifications
Clear all
Topic starter
16/03/2026 10:02 am
In the Ted Talk “How using perspective transformed my world,” Michael explains he has been a respiratory therapist for 28 years and one night he had an emergency C-section that led to the death of a newborn baby boy named Tory. This led him to understand the difference between perspective and perception and how it changed his life and mindset. Michael helps us to understand that when you have perspective, it creates deeper connections. He now sees things for what they are instead of only seeing a task or a “thing.” The novel “The Sun Is Also A Star” by Nicola Yoon shows how two teenagers experience the first stages of “love at first sight” in their own unique ways. Daniel is a lot more spiritual than Natasha in the fact that he believes in fate and love. Poetry is one of the things he loves which his parents think is basically a waste of time. He is fairly different from the rest of his family, his older brother goes to Harvard and he feels the need to be like “the perfect son” and his parents are being pushy for him to go to Yale while he tries to follow in his brother’s footsteps but also trying to make his own decisions. Especially when Natasha comes into his life. Natasha is a “keep to herself” kind of person. She is scheduled to be deported back to Jamaica, but she’s nervous to go back to her old life that she’s already left behind. Being deported is not her decision, it’s the government’s decision because she is an illegal immigrant, with a false social security number, which is also not her decision. Unfortunately the day that she is set to meet about the deportation she, literally, bumps into Daniel, or “Red Tie” and starts to fall for him. As Natasha and Daniel continue spending the day together in New York City, they are getting to know each other better. Natasha meets with an immigration lawyer to try to stop her family’s deportation, but she learns there is little he can do to help. Meanwhile, Daniel keeps trying to prove that two people can fall in love in a single day by asking Natasha deep and personal questions. He brings her to a karaoke place and he sings a song almost perfectly to show Natasha his talent. Natasha sang a song too, but she was all heart and no skill. Then they went onto each other, which both of them had been waiting for all day. When they share their thoughts about family, dreams, and the future, Natasha slowly begins to open up to him. Even though they grow closer, Natasha still worries about having to leave the country soon. When they leave the karaoke place, Natasha tells Daniel the truth about her deportation and they have a big fight, leaving them both guilty in their own ways. My book and the Ted Talk are connected because of how gaining perspective creates a deeper understanding or connection to someone. Both say, in a way, that you may or may not like that shift or change, but you should let it happen and be patient. A quote from my book that helps to show this is, “We’re not meant to be, Daniel. I’m an undocumented immigrant. I’m being deported. Today is my last day in America. Tomorrow I’ll be gone”(Yoon 189). A quote from the Ted Talk that shows this is, “We need to make that conscious effort to step outside ourselves, put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, try to understand and recognize what battles they might be fighting, what hopes and fears they might have”
Does your character have a problem or situation that they didn’t tell until later? Is there a way that your character can learn from this?
16/03/2026 7:38 pm
In my book, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz, some characters have problems or situations that they do not reveal until later. These hidden struggles affect how they behave and how they deal with the people around them. Oscar, Lola, and Beli each carry personal problems that shape their actions, and through these experiences, they can learn important lessons about themselves and their relationships.
Oscar has a problem that he does not fully express to others his deep loneliness and desire to be loved. Throughout the story, Oscar struggles with feeling like he does not belong because he does not fit the typical expectations of a Dominican man. Instead of sharing his feelings openly, he escapes into science fiction and fantasy books. These stories become a way for him to deal with rejection and bullying. Over time, Oscar could learn that being honest about his feelings and accepting himself may help him build stronger relationships instead of hiding in his imagination.
Lola also hides some of her struggles, especially her fear and frustration with her mother’s strict behavior. At first, she reacts by rebelling and running away instead of explaining how she feels. Lola keeps much of her emotional pain inside, which makes the conflict between her and Beli even worse. “You don’t know the kind of world I came from,” (Diaz 125) Beli tells Lola. Through her experiences, Lola can learn that communicating more openly might help her understand her mother better and reduce the tension between them.
Beli has one of the biggest hidden problems in the story. She keeps much of her painful past in the Dominican Republic a secret from her children. Her abusive relationship with the Gangster and the trauma she experienced shape her strict and sometimes angry personality. Because she does not talk about these experiences, Lola does not understand why her mother behaves the way she does. Beli could learn that sharing her past might help her children understand her and create a stronger relationship with them.
In the TED Talk “The Necessity in Showing 'Imperfect Immigrants' by Tina Yong, she talks about how immigrating is not always perfect. She talks about the struggles, judgment, and unemployment issues.“We often expect immigrants to be perfect — hardworking, grateful, successful — because if they’re not, their presence is questioned.”(Yong). Immigrants have a hard time fitting into society, but they recognize that it is better than where they came from. This ties back to my book because Oscar, Lola, and Beli face cultural differences, are judged for being different, and struggle to support their family, and not being the people others expected them to be.
This post was modified 1 month ago by jennifer.chick@rsu4.org
17/03/2026 10:05 am
In my book, “Breathe and Count Back From Ten” by Natalia Sylvester Veronica has lived in the U.S. since before she can remember so she's never had to think much about fitting in unlike her mother and father. They push her to be very perfect and do nothing wrong, but while they think it's for the best they are really taking away all her freedom and choices. Rather than her trying to fit in because of her ethnicity she has to fit in due to her hip injury; her hips are lopsided, and she just found out her parents have been keeping a huge secret from her. She finally gets her dream job but her family won’t accept it so she is forced to lie to them. Also due to the new worsening condition of her hip she has to learn when to figure out if she is actually okay or if she is just being brave for others. The job she thought she had wanted and she fought for, the place she thought would truly accept her with her scars ends up trying to cover up the part of her she's always been most self-conscious about. In the end she finally starts to live out her dream, her parents accept what she chooses and she finds out the decision she thought was going to be made for her was actually something she could finally control.
Veronica’s whole life has been based around a problem and it is something she's tried to hide and cover up. Her hip dysplasia is a constant reminder of what she can’t do, and she knows that if people know about her injuries and see her scars they’ll try to assume she’s not capable. When she meets new people she refuses to tell them, they'll either see her as less than she is or they will turn her entire life into that one part of her. Throughout the book she starts to realize that her scars aren't something she wants to hide, she doesn’t want them praised like “They show how strong you are” and she doesn't want special treatment of being left out of things, she simply wants them to be left alone, "It's not some metaphor to me. It’s my body. My life. And everyone always looks at scars as survival marks, and healing. But they never want to see the hurt that caused them.”(Sylvester 303). This is showing her finally realizing that she doesn’t want people to acknowledge them at all, they don't make her strong, they don't make her incapable, they are just one part of her entire being. Not her whole life.
18/03/2026 10:46 am
In my book Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian, Tom Bouchard is a great student, a good soccer player, and a bad decision maker. One night, he and his best friend went to the Maquoit school and wrote “you suck Maquoit” on their school rock. He gets in big trouble with the school and has to do 100 hours of community service and repaint the rock so he can walk at graduation. Tom faces humiliation when he goes to re-paint the rock, and all of the Maquoit students show up to watch him paint and haggle with him in the process. He swallows his pride and accepts his mistake.
Does your character have a problem or situation that they didn’t tell until later? Is there a way that your character can learn from this?
My Character Tom does not have any silent struggles. He fits in well with everyone and even gets dates without trying. “You feel like hanging out? Back at my room?”(Padian 189).
18/03/2026 3:18 pm
caustin27: What if Beli didn’t come from the Dominican Republic? How would that change who she is now?
18/03/2026 3:18 pm
mpetersen27: How is Veronica changing herself and or others to see her as a person and not a disability? Who in her life causes her to either be proud of the person she is or makes her feel the opposite?
mpetersen27 reacted
18/03/2026 3:18 pm
jgreenwood27: Why do you think Tom makes the decisions he makes? Who influences his actions?
19/03/2026 5:29 pm
If Beli didn’t come from the Dominican Republic, she would be a very different person. She would be different because growing up in the Dominican Republic is what shaped her life. Beli went through a lot of trauma and hard experiences there, and those experiences made her strong.
If she didn’t grow up there, she might not have gone through the same pain. She might have had an easier life and been more open with people. She might not have been as tough or as protective of herself. For example, her experience under the regime and her abusive relationship with the gangster taught her to be strict with Lola.
Also, if Beli didn’t come from the Dominican Republic, her culture would be different. This would affect how she acts and how she raises her children. She would not be the same if her past were different.
25/03/2026 9:38 am
omanson27
In my book, my main character Natasha is being deported to Jamaica, but hasn’t told the boy she met yet. “But he doesn’t know what I know. I'll be a resident of another country tomorrow” (Yoon) this relates to the ted talk “Sweet, Difficult sounds” By I.M. Desta
Which is about a young girl who moved to America from Zimbabwe and was struggling talking to people or in front of people at her school. After her aunt helped her, she became strong and read her poem in front of everyone successfully. The problem she had was talking to people, she couldn't get herself to, so everyone thought she didn’t understand them. “Can you speak English?’ Ashley asked. Nothukula stared at her. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand English. They had spoken it at school back home…” (Desta)
