What Kinda Cool Are You?

"What Kinda' Cool Are You?"

Who ever said kindness can't be cool? I could probably name off fifty people right now that are cool because they are so very kind. Being rude or mean is not the right track to take. You can seriously effect someone's life by doing such things. In a interview with The New York Times, Lady Gaga said,"I was called horrible, profane names loudly in front of huge crowds of people, and my school work suffered at one point. I was a straight-A student, so there was a certain point in my high school years where I just couldn't even focus on class because I was so embarrassed all the time. I was so ashamed of who I was,"(Kristof). The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier is one of the many examples showing how horrible high school can be. Four or so years in one place can make an imprint on your life, so make a positive impression and help others make their's at the same time. In high school, you can't change ideas or plans without getting judged, you're constantly brought down by manipulation and deceiving words. Despite how much it may hurt, don't show that people's opinions bother you.The only thing that matters is what you, or the ones you respect, think of you. Brushing it all off and worrying about yourself and how you effect others, is the only thing that will get you through high school.

"They tell you to do your thing but they don't mean it. They don't want you to do your thing, not unless it happens to be their thing, too. It's a laugh, Goober, a fake. Don't disturb the universe, Goober, no matter what the posters say,"(Cormier 259). These are Jerry's thoughts as "The Goob" sits with him, awaiting the ambulance. Jerry has been defeated for the final time, the result of disturbing the universe, the natural order. When Jerry is carried away, he tries to tell Goober to sell the chocolates because based on his own experience, it is not worth it after all to disturb the universe. The powerful are entirely too strong to successfully defy. Yet while Jerry might have been beaten, his fate is not necessarily the detriment to disobedience that Archie and Brother Leon want it to be. Obie thinks that someday Archie will receive his comeuppance, either when the Black Box doesn't work for him, or when another person like Renault comes along. Nobody likes anybody who comes along and changes plans.

The Chocolate War looks at how violence, authority, and speech are used to manipulate the students of Trinity. Blackmail, extortion, psychological games, and physical punishment are part of the curriculum at this school. Since this threatens the power structure at Trinity, those in danger of losing their power, such as Brother Leon and The Vigils, unleash their most devastating tools of manipulation."Are you perfect, Bailey? All those A's that implies perfection. Is that