Character Development in Bronx

         Throughout the book, Bronx Masquerade, Nikki Grimes develops the changing of Devon Hope. In the beginning of this book, after Diondra's part it says, "Even so, I'd rather the brothers not catch me with my head in a book." This quote is saying that Devon doesn't want people to know all of his true interests. He thinks he has to act a certain way for people to accept him. After someone catches him reading a poetry book he says, "When I get on the bus with the rest of the guys, I'm taking a copy of Baraka's book with me to read, and I'm gonna make sure everybody sees it. Especially
Mike." This quote shows that Devon is starting to be proud of who he is, he is accepting that he isn't who everyone thinks he is. If it were earlier in the book Devon would have not been brave enough to expose who he is. This is how Nikki Grimes develops the changing of Devon Hope.

         Plot and setting influence each other and the different elements of a story in multiple ways. Setting affects the characters because they could have lived differently based on what the time period was, who they surrounded themselves with, and what kind of problems mainly occurred there. For example in Bronx Masquerade, the character Wesley is affected by his setting. He lives in the bad part of Bronx, NY and he fears for his life. In his poetry he talks about how he is afraid he will get killed in his neighborhood. The setting also affects the conflicts because different areas might have different issues that tend to originate there. An example of this in Bronx Masquerade, is that the all the main characters live in a predominately black neighborhood. This means that there is a lot of racism towards whites there. People dislike white people even if they don't know them. Also some things might be a big problem for some people in different time periods. The plot affects the setting because if the plot changes then the setting could change too. For example, if the plot makes people move to a different country then the setting just changed because of the plot. In the book, the character Leslie Lucas is an example of this. She moved to a different neighborhood and now her main conflict is loneliness. Before she moved she wasn't lonely, but now she is. The plot also affects the characters because as the plot unfolds the characters can change. For example, throughout the book Bronx Masquerade the story starts to display the characters changes, like Devon Hope.

        Along with plot and setting, the conflicts and characters influence each other and the different elements of a story in numerous ways. The conflicts influences the characters because if a huge problem occurs then the characters can be negatively or positively affected. The conflicts can make the characters look different and feel different. A character who shows this is Amy Moscowitz. Her mother died and her and her father are negatively affected by it. Amy's father doesn't show any emotion towards her and thinks that she doesn't have any feelings. Conflict influence settings because if a huge war occurs, for example, then the setting could become more rugged and dangerous. It could change the entire setting.

Found Poem Blog

Found Poem-

Miles off into open country, 

Summer,

Winter,

Silence approaching, 

Her end, 

Said, 

Time over.

        This Found Poem has a theme and message. The theme in this poem is silence and loneliness that a girl faces. It says that a journey will be coming her way along with silence.  When there is silence there is most of the time loneliness. This journey is death because it says that her time is over. The message of this poem is that death is very harsh. When you face death it is like you are facing miles of never-ending years and silence.

         The main point of this poem is that a girl dies peacefully. In the picture it shows a picture of a girl facing her fate. She doesn't look scared, she looks like she is confident and ready for whatever comes her way. Many times people die in vain, but in this case she dies with willingness. She just let fate do what it had to do.

Spine Poem Blog

Spine Poem-

The Story of My Life,

Journey to America,

Unbroken,

100 Battles,

Code Talker.

         This poem has a theme and message in it. The theme of this poem is the path of your life. This means that the poem describes the life of the person the poem is about. This specific person fought in 100 battles, took a journey to America, is described as a code talker, and was not broken. The message of this poem is that there can be many different things that occur in your life. Not all of it might be physical things but mental things that you have to overcome mentally too.

        Along with a theme and message this poem has a main point also. The main point is that this person that the poem is about, has a lot of different things that describe them. Four of these books has a certain meaning that adds to the "life" of the person. The first book is like an umbrella that holds all the other books together. All of the other books describe this person's life in a different way.

Where I'm From

Commented on: Yazmin's Blog, Evelyn's Blog,and Jude's Blog

Bronx Masquerade Compare And Contrast

         The book Bronx Masquerade is about different teenagers points of views on life and poetry. The book includes poems that multiple teenagers write about different problems that they face. Along with poems it has chapters of their lives told from them. There are many different people in this book. Most of their problems are very intense and they are actual things that really happen in real life. This takes place in the rough part of Bronx during the early 2000s.

         There are a few characters who have similar points of views in the book. Some of these characters are Wesley and Tyrone. Both of these characters think that they are going to die. They think this because they live in a very dangerous neighborhood. There are gangs everywhere and making it alive is an accomplishment to them. These boys aren't just afraid of being killed, they also don't care much about school. I feel like school isn't their top priority because they are consumed with other things, such as being afraid of dying.

        Along with some characters being similar there are some that are different. Some of these characters are Raul and Devon. Raul expresses himself without a problem, he doesn't care what people think of him. He paints and draws pictures. However, Devon likes to read poetry, but he hides it from everyone. He is afraid to be himself because he thinks others won't like it. Raul is comfortable being himself, but Devon is afraid people wouldn't accept his true self.

        All in all, I really like this book. I feel like many people can relate to this book because it talks about real problems that many people face. It is a very touching story so far.