11/6/98 Kyle Dornich

For English class our grade is doing a web page project, in it we have different groups with different themes and each group member has a different sub-theme. My group's theme is parent-child relationships, and my sub-theme is conflict. There is almost always some type of conflict present in parent-child relationships. But conflict is not always bad, there can be good conflict. For instance sometimes it is good to get your feelings out and discuss things and argue. Good conflict can also be caused by things such as love, death etc.

"She remembered when Amanda was born. Danny had acted lost and bewildered. Daisy had been alert of that, of course, but still, a new baby keeps you so busy. Had she really done all she could have? She longed-she ached-for a time machine. Given one more chance, she'd do it perfectly-hug him more, praise him more, or perhaps praise him less. Oh, who can say..." I chose this quote from "Teenage Wasteland" because if parents don't have time for their kids that creates a conflict between them.

In the story "Teenage Wasteland" the fifteen year old boy, Donny, starts to reject his parents and turns towards alcohol and eventually runs away from home. In this case it is not always conflict between the parents and the kids that causes problems in the teenagers life. Sometimes the kids can get into trouble in school and then reject their parents. Which in a way is causing bad conflict between parents and their kids that the kids cause. Also the parents can cause the conflict between them and their kids. To demonstrate what I mean, I used a quote from the story "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan from "Coming of Age", where the mother is excepting her daughter for who she really is.

"And after seeing my mother's disappointed face once again, something inside of me began to die. I hated the tests the raised hopes and failed expectations. Before going to bed that night, I looked in the mirror above the bathroom sink and when I saw only my face staring back - and that it would always be this ordinary face - I began to cry. Such a sad, ugly girl. I made high-pitched noises like a crazed animal trying to scratch the face out in the mirror." The reason I chose this paragraph to represent the way bad conflict can be caused by parents is, if parents expect to much from the kids and they have high expectations and the kids fail them the kids become even discouraged.

Bad conflict can also be caused by nether the kids or the parents. Sometimes things can happen at school to the kids such as peer pressure to do bad things.

Here is a quote from "Teenage Wasteland" by Anne Tyler. "He used to have very blond hair-almost white-cut shorter than other children's so that on his crown a little cowlick always stood up to catch the light. But this was when he was small. As he grew older, his hair grew darker, and he wore it longer-past his collar even. It hung in lank, taffy- colored ropes around his face, which was still an endearing face, fine-featured, the eyes an unusual aqua blue. But his cheeks, of course, were no longer round, and a sharp new Adams apple jogged in his throat when he talked."

The reason I chose this is, because it shows how parents and kids can have a good relationship and then all of the sudden kids go through a stage where they feel they need to reject their parents but in a way they feel they still need them like when they were little kids.