Friendswood Homework 

November 17, 2016

Works Cited

"Healthy vs. Unhealthy Relationships." Hall Health Center, University of

               Washington, Jan. 2014. Web. Accessed 15 Nov. 2016.

Sherman, Nancy. "Shame and Responsibility: A Response." The New York Times,

              25 July 2011. Web. Accessed 15 Nov. 2016.

Southwood, Kate. "Toxic Relationships." The New York Times Book Review, 7 Sept.

              2014. Literary Resource Center. Web. Accessed 15 Nov. 2016.

Steinke, Rene. Friendswood. New York, New York, Riverhead Books, 2014.

                For the third essay, I will be writing about Dex and Willa's friendship. After Willa was raped, Dex decided to befriend her, despite his romantic feelings toward her. I plan on analyzing further Dex's motivation behind this action. In order to do this, I have found my sources to back up my writing.

                I chose the article from the Hall Health Center in University of Washington in order to find differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships. I want to use these examples to decipher if Dex and Willa's friendship is a healthy one. If it is, than I can conclude that Dex knew his friendship with Willa would benefit her and that it was the right thing for him to do.

               I chose Nancy Sherman's article because it deals with the topic of shame and guilt. She also relates it to soldiers fighting and how the ones that seem like heroes are actually dealing with guilt or shame. I can use this article to discuss if Dex befriended Willa because he felt shame or guilt for not speaking out in the first place.

               Kate Southwood's article reviews the book of Friendswood. In it she discusses unhealthy relationships and analyzes some examples in the book. One of the examples she uses is Dex and Willa. I can use her article since she talks about Dex and Willa's relationship in particular, which is what my essay is on.

               My last source is the book Friendswood itself. It wouldn't make sense to write an essay on a topic in the book without using it to back up my writing.

           



     

      

Friendswood Essay Ideas

November 9, 2016

      For the next essay, students are to propose a problem or question, and solution in relation to the novel Friendswood. For my essay, I have decided to write about the relationship between Dex and Willa. My question is: What is the motive behind Dex's friendship with Willa? There are other questions to consider when writing this essay. They include:

1. Did Dex befriend Willa knowing she was mentally unstable and needed a friend?
2. Was Dex thinking about himself first and destroying his feeling of guilt when he decided to be friends with Willa?
3. What are the negative effects of this relationship? What are the positive?
4. Does their friendship ruin or help anyone's reputation?
5. Would Dex have gain the confidence to speak out if he never befriended Willa?
6. If Willa was never raped, would Dex have still pursue a friendship?
7. Is Dex's friendship a sign of dissent?
8. Why did no one else wanted to befriend or help Willa?
9. Is this friendship a sign of how close-knit the community is despite their struggles?
10. Should Cully follow in Dex's footsteps?

I believe Dex was thinking of Willa first when he decided to be friends with her. Therefore, my thesis at the moment is: Groupthink is a problem in Friendswood since may people fail to speak out and help one another, therefore they must learn to create new relationships that motivate them to dissent, overall creating a healthier community.