Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Ryan White Blog One - Due Wednesday, Sept. 12
Ryan White My Own Story uses literary elements to convey several themes. One such element is setting. Setting does not simply mean the physical surroundings or time period of a text. Setting in not necessarily static. It can refer to the socio-economics of a community, a community's accepted mores, current events and their impact on people and society. Choose an aspect of setting that contributes to a theme in Ryan White's story and explain how and why it is used. Be specific, include at least two quotes from the text and think up your own answer. If someone already used one aspect of setting, you must find another! 100 words.
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Throughout the novel Ryan White My Own Story literary elements are used to channel many themes. One aspect of the setting of this book is ones struggle to fit in when all society does is judge one another. When Ryan found out he had aids he knew his life would change dramatically but he didn’t think it would go as far as a whole community turning against him and his family. Once the word got out about Ryan's disease peoples perspective on Ryan and his family changed. Although it is sad to say about human nature people are usually quick to judge you whether it’s your religion, the color of your skin or in Ryan’s case his health. For example Ryan and his family went to church every Sunday and soon after everyone knew about his disease things changed. " The next Sunday we were asked to sit either in the very first pew or the very last one, so everyone would know where we were at all times (pg.93)." When I first started reading this book it was natural to predict peoples reactions to his disease and was easy to relate to other books such as The Color of Water or Night. I think the main reason Ryan wanted to write about how he didn’t fit in because he knew it would be easy for a wide variety of people to relate to and he wanted to show people that its ok to fight for acceptance. "We have to fight, Mom" I said. "If we don’t we wont be allowed to go anywhere or do anything. What they want to do isn’t right. We can’t let it happen to anybody else (pg.95)." Ryan’s struggle for acceptance later gains him the respect of many peoples not exactly all from his hometown but many people not only across the country but also across the world.
Ryan White My Own Story uses many literary elements throughout the novel. An important element in the novel is setting. One aspect of setting that contributes to a theme in Ryan White’s story is, when Ryan chose to never give up. Never giving up is a major theme in Ryan White. You should always live your life to the fullest and not just give up because of an illness. Ryan White continued to go on with his life, even when he found out he was going to die from A.I.D.S. Finding this out when your 13 years old, like Ryan White did, would usually change a persons life drastically. However, for Ryan, it was a little bit different. Ryan fought to go to school, whether people wanted him there or not. He got over the fact that people were calling him names and making fun of him. Ryan moved away and got his permit and met many new people. He had several friends which supported him and made him so happy. Ryan even had a date to go with to prom! These little events in Ryan’s life kept him going, and made him never give up. Ryan White is a strong man and went through a lot in his life.
In the novel Ryan White: My Own Story there are many examples of setting that relate to a theme in Ryan's life. Even though Ryan’s having AIDS did not have much to do with his community, everyone took it that way. The town decided they were going to convince the school that Ryan was too dangerous to re-enter. Everything seemed to be out of Ryan’s control, but that’s not how he looked at it. He decided no matter what he was going to fight to get back into that school. “I took up the art of note writing again: ‘Mom call school. Want to go back. LOVE (capitalized, circled and underlined), Ryan.’” (92) Ryan tried his hardest to get back into school and when they made the final decision that he could definitely no longer attend his old school, he moved. His new school surprisingly had accepted Ryan. Before his first day, the school had set up an AIDS awareness program. The amazing thing about Ryan was that no matter how sick he was, he wanted to keep going. He even began to educate students about AIDS. Ryan made public service announcements for the TV and radio and posed on a poster, all for AIDS. When speaking he told kids, “I didn’t have a choice, but you, AIDS is spread by ignorance.” (248) Ryan didn’t do all of this for the fame, he really wanted people to be safe and not deal with what he had to do, even thought Ryan was probably one of the most positive AIDS patients to ever live.
Throughout Ryan White society did not accept Ryan because of his disease. At home though, the support was unbelievable. This has to do with setting because at home, Ryan was more than accepted. His mother or sister never looked at him funny after they found out he contracted AIDS. His sister, Andrea, never blamed Ryan for the fact that she didn't get as much attention at home. This support contributed highly to his optimism, and theoretically, his slightly longer life expectancy. It didn't matter what people thought of him at school because at home, there was no AIDS, there were no differences between the family members. It didn't matter which house they were in either, the environment was still as supportive as ever.
Throughout the novel Ryan White: My Own Story, literary elements are used to portray several different themes. One aspect of the setting of this book is living life to the fullest, even though you dont have much time to live. When Ryan found out he had contracted the AIDS virus, he knew that his life would be changed forever. Although Ryan had little time to live, he still wanted to be a normal kid and live a normal life. Ryan loved having a good outer appearance, and enjoyed owning material possessions. People are known to judge others harshly with first opinions of his life, and that is exactly what happened with Ryan. In his case, he wasn't accepted in school and in his town. Wanting to fit in and be accepted, he thought he could achieve that by keeping his appearance up. Unfortunately, peoples perspectives didn't change about Ryan. They still believed that Ryan's health problems made him a bad person, and therefore he was unable to fit in. Ryan continued to keep fighting for acceptance, until later in the novel when he finally gained respect. In the end, Ryan didn't gain respect because of how he looked or what material possessions he owned. He gained respect for being a strong, kind person, but most of all for fighting to stay alive while he was extremely sick.
Setting played a large part in the novel Ryan White My Own Story. You can compare the life he has at home to the life he has in public. When he is at school or at the store, people act differently than they did before finding out Ryan contracted AIDS. Instead of being friendly and caring, his peers and fellow members of society veiw him as a lesser person. He is being judged and he is being treated poorly because he has a disease. People say mean things to him and say he is gay because AIDS was known as the "gay disease" at the time. Things were different at home for Ryan. When he is at home with his family, he is treated as he always was. He was still an equal member of the family and he was treated that way. He was always loved and supported by his mother and his sister. Eventually, he started gaining the support of his classmates back and he was able to get a prom date; a friend named Dee. In the beginning, Ryan wasn't wanted at school but then his peers stopped being ignorant and they accepted him again and realized that AIDS wasn't who he was, hes been the same person all along.
In Ryan White there are many different ways that the setting is able to make Ryan who he is. One such way in which the setting plays a role in making Ryan, Ryan is the actual state and where he lives in. if Ryan were to live in say the south he may have had a different perspective than he did living in the mid-west. People may have viewed him harsher if he were to live their and he may have ended giving up. If Ryan were to live in California where he wanted he may still have acted differently but would still have been the same. Their could have been more people who had aids in different areas and if he lived in one of them the community may have acted a little differently to his disease. In the end their would have still been a part of Ryan that will always be Ryan.
Throughout the novel Ryan White My Own Story literary elements are used to create many themes. One theme in the book would be where Ryan was brought up. He was brought up in a normal home in Kokomo, Indiana. He lived there most of his life with his mom and sister. When people began to find out that Ryan had AIDS they began to talk about the kind of mother he had, and how he was raised. Where Ryan was raised had nothing to do with the fact that he had AIDS. He didn’t get AIDS because of the home that he lived in or because his mother was a bad mother that was an unfit parent. He got AIDS because the factor that he was given was infected with the disease. This setting and theme help show that no matter where you are brought up or who brings you up doesn’t matter, the place that you live or the people you live with cant protect you from everything in the world.
In the novel Ryan White: My Own story, the use of literary elements is very crucial. One of the most important elements throughout the book was setting. On aspect of setting in the story of Ryan White was that you shouldn’t be prejudice against someone for something they can not control. Ryan could not control the fact that he was born with hemophilia and had to take Factor VIII. He did not select the container of factor that was contaminated, that’s just what happened. Ryan was not the only hemophiliac that was infected with the AIDS virus through Factor VIII. “Grandpa had found out that something like seventy percent of all the hemophiliacs in America had gotten infected by their Factor. We knew there were at least a dozen other hemophiliacs in Howard County, and we found out that I was the second one to be diagnosed with AIDS.” Ryan couldn’t help he had AIDS but people treated him like an outcast like he wanted this to happen to himself. He was discriminated against; grown adults didn’t even want a thirteen year old kid going to school with their children. Ryan was treated horribly for something he couldn’t even control.
Like many other novels, literary elements played an extremely important role in the novel, Ryan White, My Own Story. One crucial literary element that played a large role was setting. The society Ryan lived in had a huge impact on Ryan’s life, especially after he got AIDS. The whole community, even adults who you would think would be more mature about the situation, seemed to turn against him. The town even convinced the school that Ryan shouldn’t be aloud to come back just because of his disease. I think this actually made Ryan stronger because he gave him a reason to live on and fight back. It would be almost impossible for Ryan and his mother to fight the whole community, so he moved to a different area where he was accepted. I believe this wasn’t giving up. Ryan’s former community looked terrible for turning against Ryan. I believe the setting Ryan lived in at first made him stronger and gave him the urge to educate and help others all around the nation and provide AIDS awareness.
Throughout Ryan White: My Own Story, the setting played a major role and helped to display the way that the community can effect a person. The community in which Ryan lived was not accpeting of Ryan and his family because Ryan had aquired the A.I.D.S virus at the age of 13. Parents of the children attending school with Ryan complained about sending their children to school with Ryan. Some even pulled their children out of school for days at a time to try to get their point across. Ryan's spirit was never crushed as he lived his life to the fullest everyday. He moved away from Kokomo, Indiana to Cicero, Indiana. There the people were more understanding of Ryan and his condition. This mad Ryan a hapier person and gave him hope that there were people that wwere considerate. There were still some people that thought Ryan was a threat to there child. Those parents requested to have Ryan removed as their childs lab partner. Ryan's morale was always high, even during tmes when he was sick in the hospital. Ryan didn't let the people around make him feel bad.
Ryan White: My Own Story was a great example of how the communty and environment that one lives in effect the people in it.
In Ryan White My Own Story, one aspect of setting is how the town of Kokomo was so small therefore everyone knew everything about each other. When the town of Kokomo found out that Ryan White had AIDS, they started to treat him badly. Although AIDS is only contagious through blood, the town did not want Ryan White back in school. This really hurt him because he wanted to be treated as a normal human being and be allowed to go to school like every other child was. “But the judge wouldn’t discuss whether I was healthy enough to go to school. He said that he couldn’t make a decision because we hadn’t done things right. We had to present proof that the school was discriminating against me before he would allow us to come back to court.” (98) This shows that not even the judge could tell him that he was allowed to go to school. Why does he need proof that the school is discriminating against him? Why does he need to know that in order to tell him if he can go to school or not?
In Ryan White: My Own Story, literary elements are used throughout the novel. One aspect of the setting of this book is Ryan struggling to be accepted in his community. After his town found out he had AIDS, they treated him completely different. The school and parents did not want him to him to come back. The parents threatened to sue the school if they let Ryan White back in. When Ryan did attend his school, the parents did not let their kids go to school instead they rented a building to teach their children there. This crushed Ryan, because he was not a bad kid or hurt anyone; it was all because he had AIDS. So Ryan and his family made the decision to move to Cicero, a new town. The school and the town welcomed Ryan and they were educated about Ryan’s disease. Later on, Ryan told his mom, “I want to be buried in Cicero.” He called Cicero home and it always will be.
Ryan White My Own Story uses many literary elements throughout the novel. An important element in the novel is setting. One aspect of setting that contributes to a theme in Ryan White’s story is the town of Kokomo. He is being judged and he is being treated badly in the town because he has a disease. People say mean things to him and say he is gay because AIDS was known as the gay disease. They still believed that Ryan's health problems make him a bad person and was not accepted at school either. These events in Ryan’s life kept him from being a normal kid. Ryan went through a lot in his life and that is what makes him so strong.
In the novel Ryan White My Own Story, many literary elements are evident. Setting is a very important part of Ryan White's life because it was his setting which caused him to experience prejudice first hand. Ryan was faced with an extremely hard challenge which most certainly would end in his death. He did not count on his entire town turning against him at the time he needed them the most. They were even made to sit in a special place at church because everybody was scared of Ryan and scared of getting AIDS. “The next Sunday we were asked to sit either in the very first pew or the very last one, so everyone would know where we were at all times (pg.93)." Ryan taught us that a disease such as AIDS is something to be educated about. People didn't know what AIDS was, so they feared it. Setting has everything to do with the Ryan White Story. The people in which Ryan was around, effected his life greatly.
Throughout the novel of My Own Story by Ryan White there are many literary elements used. One specific literary element used is setting. Setting plays in important role in Ryan’s life throughout the novel. Ryan White lived in Kokomo, Indiana which wasn’t a great place to live when everyone found out he had the disease AIDS. Parents did not want Ryan to go to school because they weren’t educated about AIDS and were afraid their children would catch Ryan’s disease. Ryan tried hard and never gave up even though a lot of people disliked him. “So I ended up on the national news the next morning, the first kid with AIDS to protest publicly about being barred from school.” (pg 95) When Ryan finally moved away from Kokomo he was treated like a normal person even though everyone knew he had AIDS. When he first went to Hamilton Heights he was very happy because no one was mean to him and the setting around him let him get the education he wanted. “The girls called me every week just to say hi, and brought some of their other friends over to meet me…” (pg 173) The literary element setting used throughout this novel plays an important role in Ryan’s life.
In the Ryan White Story one major literary element is setting. One Aspect of setting in Ryan White was his struggle to never give up and keep a positive outlook on life. When Ryan was 13 he got Aids from an infected batch of Factor 8. Ironically The thing Ryan needed to stay alive killed him. People started treating him differently, and people thought he was Gay. Someone wrote very profane things on the inside of Ryan's locker. Ryan didn't let it get to him. Then Ryan wasn't allowed to go to school. Ryan fought to stay in school, and he won. School was like a vehicle of hope for Ryan. When Ryan Moved to cicero and went back to school he was treated like a normal kid. Ryan Never gave up in his fight with aids. He did many things that normal people do.
Ryan White My Own Story uses setting to covey the theme of the novel, that society is prejudice to people that are different than themselves. Ryan White uses the community’s acceptance, or lack there of, to show that people do judge. When Ryan tried to go back to school many parents and teachers wanted Ryan out of school. They didn’t understand his disease all they knew was that Ryan had AIDS and they didn’t want their kids to get it from him. “One mother, Mitzi Johnson, whose older daughter was only in first grade, not even in junior high with me, started going around with a petition” (97). The mother didn’t even want her daughter in the same school system as Ryan. She didn’t know Ryan or his family all she knew was that Ryan had AIDS. This mother supports the authors theme that people judge other people, who are different.
The amazing story of ryan white show many aspects of setting, in that of a setting which talks of how a community can effect something. When ryan was diagnosed with aids, its like the society he had grew up in and trusted flipped on him with in a second. one would think for people to do this to some one would be nearly impossible. but the matter of the fact is what people don't understand people single out and automatically declare it despicable. although ryans society subjected him this mental torture in that every one turned, he , unlike most people did not let it get to him. ryan decided to fight, fight not for any 1 else but himself. he wanted to make his life the way he wanted it. ryan main goal with the time he had left was his education. Ryan was an exceptional human being in that the setting that was forcefully bestowed on him was just fuel. fuel in that it helped him to educate and make the best not only of his life but to help the other communities to understand aids is not something to fear because its different, but that they had to understand it to accept it.
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