Charlotte Temple

When I first started this book I found it very dull and boring, but by the middle I wanted to keep reading because it had caught my attention. I think Rowson does a great job of leading the reader on and giving them a glimpse of hope. When Montraville stole Charlotte away I had this hopeful feeling that he would take care of her. Although, as the chapters went on I feel as though he became (what most girls consider) the "typical" guy.
I am sure that a lot of girls have had the feeling of being betrayed, left or in general being hurt. I believe that is why it is so easy to relate to this book as an adolescent. We all know the feeling of being let down but everyone has the hope that things will turn out well. This is exactly what Rowson did in the book. At one point Montraville realizes that he is wrong and I had hope that he was going to go back and realize his true love but he didn’t. Sadly, most women probably think this is all Montraville’s fault but I think differently. Charlotte is at fault just as much as Montraville. She is naive and is fooled by Montraville’s front of being a worthy gentleman. I think that if she would have had heartache in the past or had been more aware of what some men can be like, that she would not have gone. It also, did not help that she had no voice, she could have avoided going with La Rue if she had spoken out against it.
This book shows a lot of struggles that many teenagers face today, peer pressure, being naïve and heartache. There is no doubt in my mind that this book is going to be very popular for a very long time.

Topic for Essay

I am not exactly sure what I want to write my essay on but a few topics that have skimmed my mind have been "Why some books become banned?" and "Why do adults view adolescents the way that they do?" I feel that both topics can be discussed with the books that we are going to read in class.
I want to know why some books are banned and who decides that they are put on the banned book list. It amazes me that some schools ban books based on "too sexual" of context and witchcraft. The fact that adults in a school setting think that they can choose what children read is ludicrous. Parents should be the ones choosing or if a adolescent is old enough they should be able to choose what they want to read. Books are meant to be read and not banned.
The other topic that I am thinking about is why do adults view adolescents the way that they do? Some adults think that adolescents are dangerous, crazy and wild, even though just a few years back they were the same way. Just because one adolescent does something bad it puts a bad name out there for everyone. I want to know why they are portrayed in such a bad way in some books and why authors think it is okay to portray them as such bad people.

Chapter 9

In my opinion chapter nine was one of the best chapters in the book. Although most of the information was askew from what was really happening it was extremely interesting to see the viewpoint of someone from many years ago.

Granville Stanley Hall's perception of why adolescence acted the way they did was extremely sexist, racist and rude. I do think that the way you act reflects on the way you were brought up, where you were raised and the people you hung out with. Although, assuming that every person that isn’t white is going to cause trouble is wrong.

He also “argued that the contemporary city and its temptations had made the petty crime of young people a matter for broad social concern, rather than a matter an individual family could control.” (pg 161) This is assuming that the family cannot do anything and based on where they live is going to shape how their children act. Hall seemed to favor any person who was white upper class, the only time he seemed to mention the lower class or a person of a different race was when he was degrading them or assuming that they were going to cause trouble.

It really surprised me when I read “…Hall’s work was welcomed, especially by educators and youth workers, is that is provided a theory for many of their own efforts.” (pg 163) I understand the time period that he was writing but they were teaching children all the wrong ideas.

Hall presented valid reasons for that time period; he wanted people who were reading his work to feel good about themselves. I would like to believe that most people would think that type of book would be out of line in today’s time, but sadly I know that some people probably still agree with him.