Is It Up To You?

Dear Jackson, Kayla, and Cashmir: I am thrilled with your zine, “It is up to you,” because I love the main idea behind this whole zine and the figurative language used within the poems. Not only that but it wasn’t hard to understand and it made me reflect on the cause that you are trying to have a voice for. One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is: “Tonight we absorb peace and strength, not foreign clouds that cloud our consciousness” I think this is interesting because of the way it concludes the poem. It shows me that in the end this person is breaking free from the addiction but also displays how that isn’t necessarily easy. Another sentence that I focused on was: “According to a survey that was sent out to the students of SLA, Bieber, 36.4% of the students who answer the questions have tried drugs, while 63.4% have not.” This stood out for me because this is the school that I happen to go to, and to hear these results intrigued me a lot. I do completely agree with you that the main reason that teens try drugs is because of curiosity. One reason I say this is because I’ve had friends that have tried drugs due to them being curious about what it does. Another reason I agree with you is because many teens in our city of Philadelphia use drugs and most of the time they say it because of them seeing others doing it and then eventually getting curious about the hype. Have you seen this article? https://philadelphia.pa.networkofcare.org/mh/library/article.aspx?hwid=tp17749
I thought you might be interested in this because of how it talks about your topic, and give a good amount of information. Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next because I think that the way you spoke out on this issue was very professional and powerful. I would love to hear more poems about other topics but maybe also using the same type of structure because I enjoyed it. Lastly, I would love for people like you guys to be able to be a voice for those who have been silenced.

Dear Kayla Strickland:

I am loving your Zine, “Is it up to you?,” because It is evident that you did your research. I love the views in this zine One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is: “for one hit. Enough” I think this is insiteful because this shows the depth of the issue. This gives the reader a personal level to connect to.

Another sentence that I read was: “I am human. I seek substance to dampen my mind” This stood out for me because like i said before this breaks the issue down to a personal level. When an issue is presented on this level, it is easier for an audience to relate.

I do presumably agree with you that addiction is bad. One reason I say this is i have seen the results of addiction and i know what it can do to someone. Another reason I agree with you is i love that you chose this topic, it is a great thing to spread the word about, especially in this day and age.

Have you read this book go ask alice? https://www.google.com/search?q=who+asked+alice+book&rlz=1CAJIKU_enUS957&ei=ddxSY6jTEZGl5NoPvICV4Ak&ved=0ahUKEwjo4bLj8fH6AhWRElkFHTxABZwQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=who+asked+alice+book&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBQghEKABMgUIIRCgATIFCCEQoAEyBQghEKsCMgUIIRCrAjoKCAAQRxDWBBCwAzoICCEQFhAeEB1KBAhNGAFKBAhBGABKBAhGGABQ4gNYkw5g9xFoAXABeACAAXGIAcoDkgEDMy4ymAEAoAEByAEIwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz&safe=active&ssui=on. I thought you might be interested in this because of the topic you chose and the personal connections you made,

Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next because you did a great job and clearly did your research.

Dear Kayla Strickland:

I am loving your Zine, “Is it up to you?,” because It is evident that you did your research. I love the views in this zine One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is: “for one hit. Enough” I think this is insiteful because this shows the depth of the issue. This gives the reader a personal level to connect to.

Another sentence that I read was: “I am human. I seek substance to dampen my mind” This stood out for me because like i said before this breaks the issue down to a personal level. When an issue is presented on this level, it is easier for an audience to relate.

I do presumably agree with you that addiction is bad. One reason I say this is i have seen the results of addiction and i know what it can do to someone. Another reason I agree with you is i love that you chose this topic, it is a great thing to spread the word about, especially in this day and age.

Have you read this book go ask alice? https://www.google.com/search?q=who+asked+alice+book&rlz=1CAJIKU_enUS957&ei=ddxSY6jTEZGl5NoPvICV4Ak&ved=0ahUKEwjo4bLj8fH6AhWRElkFHTxABZwQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=who+asked+alice+book&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBQghEKABMgUIIRCgATIFCCEQoAEyBQghEKsCMgUIIRCrAjoKCAAQRxDWBBCwAzoICCEQFhAeEB1KBAhNGAFKBAhBGABKBAhGGABQ4gNYkw5g9xFoAXABeACAAXGIAcoDkgEDMy4ymAEAoAEByAEIwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz&safe=active&ssui=on. I thought you might be interested in this because of the topic you chose and the personal connections you made,

Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next because you did a great job and clearly did your research.

Dear Kayla Strickland

I am in love with your zine by your the cost and this zine is and i love the dizinge that you did in there real world because it has so much to offer and provides nothing that different to be negative things showing different.

One part of your Why my that stands out for me is where i love the picuserts and different to be showing and the photo its like a different world. I think this is photo its like a different world and that showing how careative of more thing and one time i did something like that. how the others.

Another part that I all the words that was add in their fond that different levels and that forms This stood out for me because,forms in different way of stuff.

Your i mad something like th reminds me of something that I made once. One time in middle school did something like this and it was really fun .

Thanks for your hard work on the cost. I look forward to seeing what you make next, because its was fun and i made me thing about and it had things like this becust i love doing this thing like.

Dear Kayla:

I am interested in your zine, “Is It Up To You?” because it has a unique title. I like the dark theme.

One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is: “this amber light whittled down by another war / is all that pins my hand / to your chest.” I think this is well-written because it uses imagery really well. The metaphor is quick to understand and the description is vivid.

Another sentence that I was impressed by was: “The ones who can't stop / No matter how hard they try / And fail / And fail / And fail / Are always destined to lose.” This stood out for me because of how the writer executed it. The fading text and then the last line's colors being black on white instead of white on black was a nice touch.

I do agree with you that peer pressure is a big problem that needs to be fixed. One reason I say this is a lot of people make bad decisions due to having negative influences around them that lead them down the wrong path. Another reason I agree with you is this can lead to an inability to say no or set boundaries which can cause further problems in the future.

Have you seen this article? https://www.scripps.org/news_items/4648-how-does-peer-pressure-affect-a-teen-s-social-development. I thought you might be interested in this because of how it covers the way peer pressure affects teenagers in particular and their development.

Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next because the title is creative. The end of Jackson's poem also shows how he thought outside the box.