Comparing Teens in Catcher in the Rye, Tears of a Tiger, and Whirligig

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Recommended: Focusing on salinger’s the catcher in the rye, write an essay in which you explain holden’s search and struggle throughout the novel, assess to what extent it succeeds, and analyze how it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole

Problem Teens in Catcher in the Rye, Tears of a Tiger, and Whirligig

The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger's novel set in the 1950s, told the story of sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield. Deciding that he's had enough of Pencey, his fourth school that he'd failed, he goes to Manhattan three days before his scheduled return to home, not wanting to inform his parents that he'd been expelled and sent back. He explores the city, calls up some old friends, gets nicked by the elevator operator, and gradually becomes bitter about the world and people. He then visited his sister Phoebe. After fleeing from the house of Mr. Antolini, his former English teacher, because of mistaking his actions for a homosexual overture, Holden went to Phoebe's school and sent her a note telling her he was leaving home and to meet him at the museum. When Phoebe arrived, Holden angrily refused her request to take her with him and she ignored to speak to him. He then took her across the park to a carousel, bought her a ticket and watched her ride. Holden ended his narrative here, telling the reader that he was not going to tell the story of how he went home and got "sick". He planned to go to a new school in the fall and was cautiously optimistic about his future.

Tears of a Tiger, Sharon M. Draper's compelling novel about the death of high school basketball star Rob Washington in an automobile accident, exposed the dangers of drinking and driving with its deadly consequences. Andy Jackson was driving the car that crashed, killing his best friend Rob, and the cost was more than he could bear. Months later, he still couldn't stop blaming himself, even after the constant comforts from his friends and sessions with a psychologist. Drowning in his guilt, he turned away from his family, his friends, his girlfriend and his future.

Whirligig, Paul Fleischman's beautifully constructed novel that spun the complex story of Brent Bishop and his task to memorialize Lea, an unfortunate teen who crossed his path when he tried to kill himself in a car. To keep Lea's spirit alive, Brent was assigned to create four whirligigs that resembled Lea, and put them in the four corners of the United States.

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