A Book Report She said “Yes”
In She said “Yes” (New York: Pocket Books, 1999), Misty Bernall tells the story of an unlikely martyrdom of her daughter. Cassie Bernall an ordinary teenager, confused who searched to be accepted by her fellow peers. This then got her involved in witchcraft, suicidal thoughts, and she then become rebellious. This is a biography of Cassie Bernall as told by her close family and friends. She said “Yes” is the story of Cassie Bernall’s life before she was killed in a highschool shooting. Misty Bernall tells a crystal clear story of how God can take a hold of a person’s life and turn it upside down if you simply say “yes”.
She said “Yes” covers Cassie Bernall’s early life of a teenager who enters highschool and everything changed. We first meet Cassie as a Goth-like rebellious girl who is involved in witchcraft, hangs out with the wrong friends and has rejected God altogether. At this point Cassie Bernall is still attending Beaver High School, her loving parents Brad and Misty Bernall soon become concerned when they receive a report card and realize that their daughter was failing every class. When they realize this they began to look into what was might be causing her daughter to do so poorly. Misty went into her daughters room to go and get a Bible, and in doing this, she found a stack of letters from her best friend Mona, enclosed within the letters were several lines of unprintable sex talk and typical ninth grade gossip. As she skimmed down even farther it read: “Want to help me murder her?” The letter ended with a reminder about a “near spell” drawings of knives and vampire teeth, mushrooms and a caricature of her teacher lying in a pool of blood, butcher knives protruding from her chest.” (44) After reading these letters she became very concerned and couldn’t believe that her daughter could write such dark witchcraft.
The Term Paper on Comparing "The Scarlet Letter" And "A Streetcar Named Desire"
We witness cases of alienation in the texts The Scarlet Letter and A Streetcar Named Desire, which are presented mainly in the female protagonists Hester Prynne and Blanche DuBois. However, although both characters experience isolation from their respective societies, it is my contention that the causes for their isolation are different. While Hester’s isolation is largely societal, Blanche ...
Without hesitation they pulled Cassie out of Beaver high school and enrolled both Cassie and her younger brother Chris in Christian Fellowship School. A private school located in Colorado. Both of her children did not enjoy switching schools. Cassie missed her old groups of friends, especially Mona. Misty did not trust her own daughter; it got to the point where she had to be escorted from point a-point b. Her phone calls were monitored and she was not aloud to have friends over without her parents being there. Two or three months later Cassie decided that the living a life that doesn’t please God was not the life she should be living. So she started attending church, and writing in her journals to God. A noticeable change took place within Cassie; she was not the person that she used to be. When her parents noticed the positive attitude and consistency of the change that took place within there daughter they decided to pull her out of the Christian school in the summer of 1997. Cassie transferred over to Columbine high school in grade 11. She enjoyed the school very much , she made Christian friends who were more like people that were on the look out to help her keep on going and making positive decisions. However Cassie Bernall did not graduate from highschool April 20th 1999 Cassie’s faith was tested and she was shot and killed. This was a tragic event that killed 14 teenagers in total.
I was impressed with Misty Bernalls writing style, and how she included her daughter’s journal entries to back up what she was trying to explain. For example, she describes the realization that came to Cassie that she couldn’t do this alone anymore. It wasn’t worth it trying to fight her own war, she only struggled and never won. “Cassie struggled like everyone struggles, but she knew what she had to do was let Christ live in her. It’s called dying to yourself, and has to be done daily. It’s a way of freeing yourself to make it possible to live your life more freely.” (136) I enjoyed how the author had the ending at the very beginning, and the second chapter started at the beginning and how everything came together at the end. With such detail and figures of speech Misty Bernall described the struggles her daughter went through in order to achieve victory.
The Term Paper on How Returning School Can Improve Our Life
How returning school can improve our life We all came into this world hungry to learn. We were curious about everything in the world around us. Our curiosity allowed us to learn about our immediate environment when we were very young, and about the world at large when we went to school. Taking a class, whether at a community college or other educational institution, is one way to feed your ...
I also reacted strongly to the descriptions of the Columbine shooting that took place within the high school. I could picture it in my mind as I read word for word. “One of them asked Cassie if she believed in God. She paused like she didn’t know what she was going to answer and then she said yes. They asked her why, though they didn’t give her the chance to respond, they blew her away.” (14) It takes a lot of guts to be put on the spot and asked whether or not you believed in God, knowing that if you said “yes” that there was a chance that you could be shot. Cassie grew to be a strong believer in the last 2 years of her life, which she was so confident that she knew where she was going when she died.
A week before she was murdered Cassie and her parents were sitting at the table and they were talking and the word ‘death’ was introduced into the conversation. Cassie had a strong belief where she was going when she passed away: “Mom, I’m not afraid to die, because I am in heaven.” (139) A couple years earlier Cassie wouldn’t of been able to say that for she had basically sold her soul to Satan himself. Cassie had a firm foundation, and nothing was going to knock her over no matter what was thrown at her.
Athough I was saddened to about the struggles that Cassie went through, I rejoiced when everything turned out at the end. Cassie is in a better place, a place free of all pain and suffering.
