critcal lens essay

Martin Luther King, JR once said “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in the moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” This quote means that we only see people’s true color when they are faced with trouble or problems. I agree with this quote because you never know the people’s feelings until you know the problem they are faced with or are facing. Monster by Walter Dean Myers and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson used theme and setting to prove the critical lens. The main characters in both these novels overcome challenging situations by taking advantage of the opportunities presented to them. In their struggle to make the best of their circumstances, the main character Melinda in Speak and Steve in Monster illustrate the critical lens. In Monster the main character Steve is faced with a long prison sentence. The theme of Monster is introspection. The theme is introspection because Steve wants to change so he looks deep inside of himself to change. Introspection is like the quote by Martin Luther King, JR because “but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy,” describes Steve. Just like introspection, peer pressure also describes Steve and his feelings. Peer pressure also describes the way Steve acts because if he wasn’t pressured by his friends then he wouldn’t have been proven guilty. These literary elements, introspection and peer pressure show Steve’s true color through the novel Monster. The main character Melinda in the book Speak goes through hard times after she is rapped by senior Andy Evans at a party. The main theme of Speak is isolation. The main theme is isolation because throughout the school year she is torched and isolated from her “friends” by the secret of her rape and that IT (Andy Evans, the rapist) goes to school with her. Melinda relates a lot to the critical lens because this is a hard time where she stands up in time of challenge and controversy. There are