Non-Fiction Analysis: 3/30

"Hi Mom, I'm Home!" By Adam Davidson, is what the growing number of recent college graduates moving back in with her parents. The reason for my students are moving back in with her parents because of student loans and the economy.

The number of recent college graduate who have moved back in with their parents have increased significantly over the past 20 years."Today, one in three people between the ages of 18 and 34 live with their parents. And 60 percent  of all young adults or see financial support from them. That's a big increase from a generation ago and only one and 10 young adults move back home and few receive financial support." As you can see, the number of adults moving back in with their parents has increased significantly. Some reasons are because of the student's preference, "work is no longer seen by middle-class use as simply a means of earning money to put food on the table: it is a defining part of their identity. they want it to be meaningful and enjoyable. That's why, faced with a competitive job market along with the seemingly endless possibilities available in the search for a apostate free rewarding' career, young people are taking longer to figure out their paths." Graduates want a job that they think will make their identity meaningful. Some just decide to live with their parents, such as Monica Navarro who decided to keep living at home as she pursued her career as a librarian.

Overall, there are many reasons as to why recent graduates are moving back in with their parents. What wasn't mentioned was the incredible amount of student debt, some adding up to 35,000 dollars. But many economic and emotional factors take a place as well.

Blog Post: 3/23

"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie deals with many social issues including racism, body image, family dysfunction and most importantly; identity. The protagonist, "Junior," struggles to find himself as a young and smart American Indian teenage boy.

    Throughout the story Junior struggles to understand who he is. At the beginning of the book, Junior begins by telling the reader that he is hydrocephalic, a medical condition that puts him at risk of brain damage and makes him susceptible to seizures. “I was born with water on the brain. Okay, so that's not exactly true. I was actually born with too much cerebral spinal fluid inside my skull. But cerebral spinal fluid is just the doctors' fancy way of saying brain grease. And brain grease works inside the lobes like car grease works inside an engine. It keeps things running smooth and fast. But weird me, I was born with too much grease inside my skull, and it got all thick and muddy and disgusting, and it only mucked up the works. My thinking and breathing and living engine slowed down and flooded. My brain was drowning in grease. But that makes the whole thing sound weirdo and funny, like my brain was a giant French fry, so it seems more serious and poetic and accurate to say, ‘I was born with water on the brain.’” Hydrocephalus is very important to how he sees himself – and how others see him as well. He also mentions multiple times that he is a weirdo. Another example is, “They stared at me, the Indian boy with the black eye and swollen nose, my going-away gifts from Rowdy. Those white kids couldn't believe their eyes. They stared at me like I was Bigfoot or a UFO. What was I doing at Reardan, whose mascot was an Indian, thereby making me the only other Indian in town?” In this quote, Junior clearly mentions the ethnicity difference between him and the other students. He already sees himself as an outcast in that community, as well had his at home.

    Junior’s real name is Arnold spirit, and he struggles so much with his two identities, “‘My name is Junior,’ I said. ‘And my name is Arnold. It's Junior and Arnold. I'm both’ I felt like two different people inside of one body.”

    Junior is clearly confused as to who he is, however throughout the story, with the help of his new friends, he begins to realize who he is. He is a part-time Indian who is willing to live his life out to the fullest.