Kate McCarthy
English
Summer assignment
Warriors Don’t Cry:
1. When Melba Beals enters Central High, she and her 8 friends are the first to integrate. Over the course of the school year, times get tougher then ever imagined. Each student faces internal and external conflicts. Melba’s internal conflicts are that she isn’t sure if she will make it through the year because she is weakening physically and mentally. Also, her friends are being threatened just because they know her, making them want no part of Melba. This causes Melba to be in an even bigger battle with herself, trying to decide whether or not Central High is even worth. As the year goes on, Melba’s external conflicts seem to be pilling up. Every day Melba walks through…show more content… Melba changes from a carefree teenager to a warrior. She attributes these changes to the many experiences she has. When Melba first acknowledged the fact that she wanted to attend Central, she knew it would be tough, but with the protection of the Governor or even the President, she hoped it would be okay. However only a few days into the school year, Melba realized she was very, very wrong. If it wasn’t the ink splatters on her blouse in the mourning, it was a death threat at lunch. Then, to make her feel even worse, the white kids would pass out note cards saying “one down, eight to go,” when one of her good friends was expelled. However, Melba does learn more about the government and how the press reciprocates information to the public. This later inspires her to become a news reporter. Before Central High, Melba wouldn’t have to eat dinner in front of the television with her family to catch the President’s speech or stay up all night worrying about intruders, but now that’s all she can think about. When Melba went to her old school she had friends to hang out with, party’s to go to and boys to talk with on the phone. But when Melba attends Central, she leaves it all behind and becomes a completely different person, transforming into a warrior. She does this by learning to say “thank you” when people would spit or torment her, as she changes, Melba learns to be the bigger person. She also learns to be a strong person from grandmother India who reminds her