The Miseducation of Cameron Post

There are many reasons to like this book, and there are many reasons not to. I think this may have to do with the controversial topics that surround this book. "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" is the story of a teenage girl named Cameron who soon realizes she is a lesbian. As if this realization isn't hard enough, considering she lives in such a small town, her parents die in a horrible car crash. Cameron's Aunt comes to live with her, and everything seems to be fine, except for the fact that she is a Born-Again Christian. Not only is the Born-Again faith not part of Cameron's religion, but it is a very homophobic culture. 

I personally like this book because it breaks the boundaries set by normal books. Most books these days are either about romantic love stories between a woman and a man or a girl dealing with normal problems of being a teenager. Both of these main categories are telling the stories of straight girls, and this makes the story unique. The author also loves to go into detail about everything from scenery to the description of the many characters. I find this truly important because in order for me to enjoy a book, I need to be completely immersed in the world that it takes place in. Therefore, by giving me all these details I am truly able to enjoy the story more. 

I dislike this book for only two reasons. One, I find that this book truly points out the problems with the Born-Again faith. For people whom believe and practice this faith, it must be completely unbearable to read. The Aunt is portrayed as an annoying woman who makes Cameron go to services that she doesn't believe in and makes her uncomfortable with the words of homophobic preachers. A small part of my family practice a faith similar to the Born-Again practices and they are completely friendly and wonderful, they don't truly disrespect the religions of others. I also dislike this book because of the heavy amount of kissing scenes or fantasies. Personally, I truly dislike all the kissing scenes in most books because it truly takes away from the story. Yes, if it is the climax of the story, then you can put the kiss in, but it shouldn't be used as a space filler because it will make the teenagers like it more.

I think that this book is a hit-or-miss since there are many people who would feel uncomfortable with the kissing scenes or the portrayal of the Born-Again faith. I find this book sort of interesting though since it breaks the pattern of girls who like to read about love for straight people. I also like this book because the environment and characters are completely realistic, and because I can imagine where the story takes place. This is what "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" is about. 

"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare

“Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare tells the story of two teenagers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, who fall in love but cannot be together due to their families having a strong grudge against one another. Being the teenagers they are, they rebel against their parents (which is impulsive since they cannot help but try to defy their parents at their teenage age) and fight to be together. At the end of the play Juliet pretends to be dead by taking a potion that makes her look like a corpse so she can sneak away, but Romeo finds out about her death and commits suicide (a very impulsive act). Once Juliet wakes up she sees Romeo’s dead body and she commits suicide as well. Throughout the play you cannot help but notice how impulsive the two teens are. Romeo and Juliets’ impetuosity leads to their fast-paced meeting, their early marriage and their death. 

The impetuosity of Romeo and Juliets’ love truly started when Romeo courted her intensely at their first engagement. Benvolio (Romeo’s cousin) and Mercutio (Romeo’s friend) tried to help Romeo get over Rosaline. Rosaline was a girl that Romeo was completely devoted to, but she became a nun, so she could not marry Romeo. Benvolio and Mercutio helped Romeo get over Rosaline by sneaking him and the rest of their gang into the Capulet ball. This is completely against the rules since the Montagues and Capulets are sworn enemies, but Mercutio and Benvolio do not think this is a bad idea that could get them killed, which is a completely impetuous act. Mercutio and Benvolio were two teens just trying to have fun and did not think that by sneaking into the house of their sworn enemy they could cause any harm. Anyway, Romeo attends the party and falls instantly in love with Juliet. Romeo kisses Juliet before he is dragged away by Mercutio and Benvolio. Juliet then states, “If he be married/ My grave is like to be my wedding bed” (1.5.148-149). Juliet does not think she can live without Romeo, but this is definitely possible since she just met him. Juliet doesn’t even proclaim how sad she is, like every other teenager would, she states that she would literally die if Romeo turned out to be married. Juliet doesn’t seem to truly think that this is a very daring thing to say about a boy she just met. Romeo does not care about Juliet’s guards and  after the party he sneaks onto her balcony to see her again. Romeo says, “I have night’s cloak to hide me from their eyes” (2.2.80). This is completely reckless since Romeo could be killed by the guards if they saw him. By doing this folly act he is already risking his life for the girl he just met an hour or so before. Juliet then states something astonishingly regretful “Deny they father and refuse thy name/ And I’ll no longer be a Capulet” (2.2.37+39). Juliet states here that she’ll leave her parents behind so she can be with Romeo. Without her parents Juliet would be without a home or life and she doesn’t seem to be thankful for her family or thoughtful to the fact that her family hates Romeo. Her parents seem to care for her and don’t want her to be so impulsive as to leave her family behind for a teenage boy. 

Besides being courted at such a fast rate, Romeo and Juliet decided to be impetuous and marry at such an early stage in their relationship. While on Juliet’s balcony, on the first day they met, Juliet states “thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow” (2.2.151). These two haven’t even had dinner together, gone on a date or been with each other for more than four hours, and they want to spend the rest of their lives together? This is completely impulsive because Romeo and Juliet are agreeing to something that will change their lives forever. The two teens don’t seem to have any seconds thoughts such as how the marriage will affect their family or if this is a terrible idea. Romeo and Juliet are suffering from the rush of hormones and are not thinking straight. Juliet asks the time she should send the nurse for their early marriage plans and Romeo states the agreement of “At the hour of nine” (2.2.168).  Juliet then manipulates the nurse to trick Juliet’s parents so she can go get married to Romeo. The nurse then says, “Have you got to leave for shrift today?/Then hie you to Friar Lawrence’s cell/There stays a husband to make you a wife” (2.5.71,73+74). Juliet rushes off and does not think of how she may be caught if the plan does not work or that the nurse may lose her job. In this case, Juliet is extremely selfish for risking her caregiver’s job and the nurse’s love for Juliet makes her completely blind to the fact that this plan is fallible. Luckily, Romeo and Juliet were able to get married even though what they did was completely foolish and flawed. 

Romeo and Juliets’ impetuous behavior lead to their untimely death. If Romeo and Juliet had let themselves think before they made these mistakes, Romeo would not have killed Tybalt and caused himself to be banished to Mantua. Juliet then came up with a plan with Friar Lawrence where she would drink a potion that would make her look dead so she could escape. Juliet succeeds with the plan but Romeo then discovers Juliet’s “dead” body. Romeo then said “For fear that I stay with thee/And never from this palace of dim night/Depart again/Thus with a kiss I die” (5.3.106-109+120). Romeo then commits suicide by drinking poison and dies. If Romeo had waited a couple of minutes and thought about his suicidal thoughts instead of being impulsive, he would’ve run away with Juliet to Mantua and lived happily ever after. Juliet then awakes and sees the dead body of Romeo. Just like Romeo, Juliet grabs a dagger and quickly says “O happy dagger/There rust, and let me die” (5.3.174-175). Juliet then stabs herself until she eventually dies. Romeo and Juliet lived without each other for almost their entire lives, it was extremely foolish for them to commit suicide because they could not be together, because they repeatedly thought they could not live without one another. Romeo and Juliet were so spontaneous that it lead to the deaths of Tybalt, Paris, Lady Montague, Mercutio and themselves. Tybalt and Paris were slain by Romeo impulsively because Romeo was enraged about the deaths of his loved ones. Little did Romeo know, that after he recklessly committed suicide, his Mother then passed away from the grief of his death. Romeo and Juliet didn’t think about how their deaths would affect their family or friends, because they didn’t give their actions a second thought. 

In “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, the two title characters’ impetuosity lead to their fast-paced meeting, their early marriage and their death. Romeo and Juliets’ impetuosity got the better of them since Romeo was almost killed by guards, Juliet threatened to abandon her family and her life, they forced the nurse to lie to her boss to help them get married and they end up causing the deaths of 6 people. Romeo and Juliets’ impetuosity caused the two to do things that were dangerous and very regretful. Shakespeare truly showed that Romeo and Juliet were impetuous and without any sort of second guessing, youths can cause the most harm.