“Cassie’s story is not only mine and Brad’s. It is yours, and what you do with it will now give it meaning” (Bernall 101). “Cassie’s story” is of a teenage girl who lost her life in a school shooting, along with many others. However, Cassie’s death was especially prominent as she stood up for her beliefs as a Christian when they were challenged just before being shot. Author Misty Bernall, mother of Cassie, shares the story of her daughter’s life and death throughout the memoir. The personal experiences of Cassie’s family and friends throughout the book reveal the effects this shooting had on not only the town, but worldwide. Bernall expresses the use of fear tactics, testimonials, and a depressing tone throughout the memoir in order to persuade …show more content…
One impactful testimonial the author includes was from Cassie’s old youth group counselor, Jordan, who states, “An event like this should cut us. It should change us. If it doesn’t, there’s something wrong. If you just let your life go on like it did before, you’re burying a gift you’ve been given” (Bernall 99). Jordan’s intent with her testimonial was to teach the audience how to redirect their lives in a positive way after they experience a death from a loved one. Jordan even gives death the title of a “gift”, indicating that death brings the gift of gratitude to those who are still alive to receive it. Jordan ultimately wants to get the point across that death should open eyes in a way that makes people thankful for their lives. The author herself also brings in her testimonial when she states, “To me, at least, it comes down to acting generously and spontaneously, even when caution holds me back. It means choosing to extend a hand …show more content…
One example of Bernall’s fear tactics is apparent when she includes an anecdote from Crystal, a student and friend of Cassie’s, who describes, “At first we were like, ‘It’s a joke, a senior prank.’ Seth said, ‘Relax, it’s just paint balls.’... We got under our table, fast. Mrs. Nielsen was at the phone by now, calling 911. Seth was holding me in his arms, with his hand on my head, because I was shaking so badly…” (Bernall 17). Crystal’s anecdote instills fear into the audience by giving them insight of what it feels like to witness a school shooting. Crystal explains how at first, students could not even believe the reality of the shooting, claiming it to be a “joke”. However, Crystal shows how reality hit them hard as they ducked for their lives. This utilization of fear tactics benefits the audience as it teaches them to be more cautious of their lives; tragic events such as this one could happen at any given moment. The author also instills fear into the audience when she states, “Several of the letters advised Cassie to do away with us and thus solve her innumerable problems. One ended, ‘Kill your parents! Murder is the answer to all of your problems. Make those scumbags pay for your suffering. Love you, me’’’ (Bernall 36). This terrific event stuns the audience just as it had Cassie’s parents;
Get down in the road.” I looked up at her.” You crazy?”This action caused by Lillian Jean raised the stakes because we didn’t know what Cassie was going to do to get back at her which cause her inner thinking. Another example of inner thinking is the quote “When I had pinned Lillian Jean securely beneath me,I yanked unmercifully on her long,loose hair and demanded an apology for all the names she had called me,and for the incident in Strawberry. At first she tried to be cute - “Ain’t gonna ‘apologize to no nigger!”
This significantly affected the choices she made -- especially during the formative years of twelve and thirteen years old. Consequently, her understanding of social and moral values deviated from societal norms. Firstly, the unstable environment was saturated with prostitutes and drug addicts who negatively impacted Baby’s well-being. Baby strongly believes a mother will make a positive difference in her life upon meeting the pimp name
The memoir opens to Regina as a successful lawyer and government administrator orchestrating a response effort to Hurricane Sandy. It then zooms back to some stories from her adverse childhood. Regina and her four other siblings working to survive on Long Island, New York as homeless children. Sometimes they would wonder out onto the
In her essay, “Sizing Up the Effects”, Professor Sissela Bok states the harmful effects of aggressive media and accents her informational argument with scholarly accounts of emotion in order to grab both the hearts and heads of her audience. Bok references a study done on homicidal men and says “What is most startling about the most violent people is how incapable they are… of feeling love, guilt, or fear.” , shortly after she takes a quote from Macbeth “I am in blood. Stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er.” By including these hard hitting, poetic pieces she stimulates a new part of each audience member, a personal element is introduced making all of her given information apply on a deeper level.
Banks expanded her argument with a strong pathos by providing coherent details on the scenarios she mentioned of police shootings, which may lead to feelings of disturbance, trauma, and beyond belief for the ones reading. Perhaps, the extensive detail she gave when she was describing the scene at Minnesota, "a police officer held the pair at gunpoint and her 4-year-old daughter watched from the back seat." (Banks) The author portrays the officer as a selfish, cold-hearted man because, regardless of the situation, a child should never be traumatized with such disturbing image as is witnessing a gun pointed at their parents. Pathos was used a long way, as Banks intended the audience to agree that officers lack consideration of others.
Cassie learned that night that R.W. and Melvin could squeeze out of just about anything because they were white, she also saw the men willing to kill a black child for robbery (a crime nowadays would have a child sentenced to juvenile detention). Cassie learned that night to love one of her enemies (T.J.) and be a leader by protecting her family. As you can see this is the biggest reality Cassie has faced
For countless families, this violence instilled immense fear in their hearts. Fear took over the lives of many people, but I decided that this situation would not stop me from living a normal life. When people asked me why I was still living in such a deadly city, I would simply respond that I loved my hometown. The city was going through a tough period, but it was up to its people to keep the city alive. We had to work as a community to rebuild what had been lost through violence.
Her book describes the hardship and struggle she faced growing up in Little Rock and what it was like to be hurt and abused all throughout high school.
In the article, “Shattered Lives” by Kristin Lewis, Dania faces many challenges. One challenge that she faced was that she was part of a war and had to leave all of the things she loved behind. On page 6 the author states “They faced a devastating choice: Stay and risk death, or leave everything behind…” Another piece of text evidence is “ In september, their choice became clear. They fled.”
It makes the overall work more dark and robust.” Avery said that the variety and doctoring of the sounds made her feel disassociated from her surroundings and engaged in the new occurrences within the video. There is not one specific fear or theme to focus on, but rather a
How Cassie interacts with negative use of power forces Cassie to grow up and come of age. Standing up for little man shows how Cassie is taking responsibility and protecting him. Cassie learns how it is sometimes necessary to stand up for herself. Learning how to control her temper makes her grow up and learn how the world
Melinda was raped as a young girl heading into her first year of high school and what happened after that was a catastrophe and would change her life and her peers view of her. Melinda perpetually haunted by her treacherous past memories struggled to stay happy and sane throughout her overwhelming first year of high school. Melinda evolves over time as she longs to be her past happy self again she slowly but surely begins to regain her happiness and self-confidence. With life-changing events coming at Melinda every which way, she experiences the highs and the lows and finds little things in life like her extraordinary passion for art to help her get through the toughest times in her life. This story will make your heart melt with sorrow and compassion, but also bring to you a remarkable story with realistic like events and settings.
Body Paragraphs The author introduces us to Cassie by man vs self. Cassie had a lot of problems with herself in the book. Cassie also was battling herself while she was in the house. Cassie was having problems in who killed her mother when she was little. Cassie had hard times with herself which leads up to she was conflicts of man vs self the conflict changed Cassie.
The descriptions of the town, its tea shops, and vibrant community create a captivating backdrop for Lila’s journey of self- discovery. Laura Taylor namey’s writing style is engaging, capturing the emotions, and intricacies of Lila’s journey with warmth and authenticity. The author beautifully weaves together themse of grief, love, family, and self-discovery, creating a heartfelt and uplifting
Like Danielle, many other teenagers often disrespect their parents and lose their own self-respect and dignity at a very young age. Danielle was getting into trouble and always having problems with the police from actions she had committed. Some of these crimes included committing rebellious actions for a young teenager; such as stealing cars or leaving home when she wanted without returning, stealing from stores, and even fighting in public. Many kids and young teenagers after seeing this type of behavior once, are highly influenced to start to act in similar ways like this young teenage girl did. Her mother tried many things to get her off the streets, because being on the streets had nothing good for her.