Connor Soukup and Eliot Johnson 

8th grade English 

Tom Sawyer team Analysis  #1

                                  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

                         A literary Analysis on Toms Adolescence

                       “You are confined by only by the barriers you build yourself.” -Anonymous

     Everyone has gone through adolescence; it’s a complicated time.  It appears to be similar in the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain. However, much a troublemaker that he is,Tom Sawyer is also going through adolescence. Because he seems to be “chasing” Becky, not saying that it’s a serious thing, it’s as stupid and awkward as a middle school dance. But that’s what is a  prominent amount theme in this book, because even though we’re separated by 170 years, things are still nearly the same, schools are much stricter, with Tom and other children getting smacked and the like. But one thing is  still the same, and that is the way the children, including Tom  act. Especially when he first properly introduced himself to Becky at school, already seemingly infatuated with her.

     “Good—that's a whack. What's your name?"

"Becky Thatcher. What's yours? Oh, I know. It's Thomas Sawyer."

"That's the name they lick me by. I'm Tom when I'm good. You call me Tom, will you?"

"Yes.”

Chapter VI.

    One of the examples is how Tom completely forgot about his previous “Fiancé” as soon as he saw Becky, although that whole thing with the previous girl was undoubtedly as lame as the “engagement” with Becky at school  was, something similar could totally happen today. I’m saying that, “girlfriends” at 10-11-12-13 years old is something still happening now, but society is different and teenagers in adolescence act much different and they are now commonly embarrassed or ashamed by their feelings. But then, kids were more tough, they had to be. Because, after all, most of them didn’t even reach adulthood. 

    These things still happen and will continue to happen for the rest of the history of the human race. So, adolescence still comes on and a child isn’t ready yet and the child still forms “relationships” that are pretty stupid and won’t last six months, exactly like Tom and the girl before Becky. However, it was funny when Tom messed up badly and spilled the beans about how he was already “engaged”. So, despite the vast differences of our lives, everywhere on earth and at any time, teenagers are and have always been the same.

Family 

“You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.” -Anonymous 

      Family is like a safety cord, it helps you when you need it and gives you confidence that you are protected and safe. They will always be there to catch your fall.

     When I was seven, I went to the Screemfest at Canobie Lake Park with my dad, my oldest brother, and his friends. I was scared as we walked into the center of the park, people in scary costumes creeped around scaring anyone in their paths.

      My oldest brother wanted to go in one of the “haunted” mazes. The rest of his friends but one chickened out. My dad told me I should go also. I denied and argued for awhile until my brother convinced me to do it. As we split ways I was fearing for my life as I shrunk down while walking to the haunted village maze with my brother, my dad, and my brothers friend.

      I looked around fearfully at all the bloody costumes running around half and hour went by as I got more scared by the minute. As we neared the entrance were screams and bright lights were flashing unexpectedly I decided to make a run for it. It pushed by my dad and then my brother caught me. He and my dad convinced me to just do it. I agreed and faced my fear.

     The maze became one of many favorites and I have gone back to the park every Halloween since then and it is one of my favorite times of year. Not because I’m obsessed with horror but because it reminds me of the time when my family convinced me to face my fear. If I had really chickened out then I would still be stuck on the sidelines like my brothers friends.

Tom Sayer and me

“A body does just the same in a dream as he’d do if he was awake” -Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Most people were probably bad as a kid and got into a lot of trouble. And that is probably what most of my other classmates are going to write about. Well, I’m going to write about that also. My old school, Lincoln Public school in Lincoln was very boring. And I seemed to stand out a lot when making bad decisions and disobeying the rules.

      I was distracting and distracted all day and every day all I wanted to do was leave. I would argue and fight with kids. I would skip homework and always tried to find a way to get out of work. I got in trouble weekly only because I was good at disguising my wrong doings (Otherwise I would get in trouble daily). I was very bad behaved although not as much as my best friend when he attempted to escape school as he run around the soccer field for two hours while the teachers chased him. That was probably the highlight of the year.

     I tried to escape blame and punishment and I got out of it most times. Most times.... Tom Sawyer is about a naughty kid who advoids work in hilarious ways. Tom also hates work. So like him we all hate work. Just putting in out there we do. Then I don’t see what’s so special about Tom Sawyer, we all have some of him in us.

Every Poet Needs A Field Like This Reflection

“A poet is a lair who always speaks the truth.”-Jean Cocteau

      The poem Every poet needs a field like this really caught my eye mainly because it stood out from the others. It had a unique feel to it. This poem which is the last one in the book is a great way to finish off a poetry book. It talks about a great place for a poet to live and write in. It would seem that it might be the environment that the author lived in when he wrote it. And that is probably were he wrote most his poems. Since he said that it is a field that every poet would need it is probably were he wrote most of his poems.

   The poem started with talking about the field and describing the environment and the feeling of the place. Then it goes into a repetitive state and says, “Every poet needs a chair like this”. Like the title but describing more about the exact place. It’s very descriptive and very deep thinking. The poems second to last line says that poets can only work so hard and that they need a perfect place for where they do their work. Which is a very unappreciated and discredited job by most people.
The poem ends by saying that if you want to be a poet that you need to accept that no one cares about you and that no one really gives a crap about you’re hard work. And if you want to be a ignored and unappreciated by most people and be a poet, than you have to live like one.

      This poem is very deep and really has you thinking about what life as a poet is like and that people ignore them and just think big about popular jobs like doctors and lawyers. It makes you appreciate poets more and has you thinking about how they live.