Outside Reading Post 2

1. Waking up in a strange place, Cupcake realizes she's in a hospital. The nurse informs her she had gotten alcohol poisoning and Cupcake flees the hospital when the nurse leaves the room. After Cup recovers for a few days, she continues partying. One night she meets a man, Tim who she falls in love with after spending hours talking to him. Police find her in a park and return her to Diane's where she finds she's pregnant. Cupcake is switched to a school for pregant girls and when she's six months pregnant, Diane gets a few of the foster girls to beat her up, killing the baby and causing Cupcake to have a stillbirth. With all the anger towards Diane, Cupcake decides to try and poison Diane and when that doesn't work she runs away again. While hitch hiking, Cup adds another drug to her arsenal- crystal meth. Cupcake returns to Lancaster to live with her Aunt Becky and four of her cousins. The oldest cousin, Ka'son alsto known as Fly, teaches her about the gang life, and she shortly after becomes a Crip. During her time in the gang, Cupcake gets shot and is put in the hospital but recovers quickly and moves back with her Daddy in San Diego and gets a job as an alarm moniter.
2.
-Love (pg. 80)- Shows Cupcake's strong liking for Hollywood in this story. The author uses it because Cupcake enjoys her life in Hollywood greatly. The word love has a positive feeling.
-Druggie (pg. 89)- Classifies a person as someone who is a heavy drug user or dealer. The author uses it because Cupcake "hangs around druggies" and has close friends who are concidered "druggies". The word druggie has a negative feeling.
-Evil (pg. 87)- Describes Diane's personality and the way she acts towards both Cupcake and the other foster children. The author uses it because Cupcake is treated unfairly by Diane; she feels Diane is evil. The word evil has a negative feeling.
-Comfortable (pg. 89)- Shows Cupcake's feelings towards Tim and the way he affects her. The author uses it because Cupcake knows she's safe around Tim and it makes her comfortable. The word comfortable has a positive feeling.
-Wimpy (pg. 107)- Describes Fly's feeling of Cupcake's name when she's in the gang. The author uses it to show the gang is tough and wants Cup to get a name that better describes her. The word wimpy has a negative feeling.
-Favorite (pg. 126)- Describes the opinion of the color red through Cupcake's eyes. Red is her favorite color and the author uses it to show this. The word favorite has a positive feeling.
-Nigger (pg. 133)- Shows the disrespect for people of the African American race. The author uses it to show disrespect between Cupcake and the cop when they get in a fight. This word has a negative feeling.
-Hated (pg. 142)- Explains Diane's feelings about being called "Momma" by her foster children. The author uses this loaded word because it shows how Diane has changed since Cupcake was last in Lancaster. This word has a negative feeling.
-Trust (pg. 144)- After Cupcake ran away again, she didn't trust anyone and didn't hang out with anyone she didn't know. The author uses this word to show Cupcake has changed from being a completely "out-there" person to not talking to many people at all. This word can have a negative or positive feeling.
-Grandma (pg. 154)- The name Cupcake calls her mother's mother when she goes to see her. The author uses this loaded word to express the respect and tradition in the name Cupcake uses. This word usually has a positive feeling.
3. I think in these chapters, the opposite of what I predicted would happen, happened. I didn't think life would go downhill for Cupcake although she feels more welcome, safe and happier with the gang, she's making bad decisions that will affect her later in life. When she goes to visit her Daddy I thought she would have to leave again but it sounds like she's there to stay for a while even though she's still drinking and doing drugs, she's only 16. If I was in her position, I most likely never would have made the same decisions as her. Cupcake is tough and is learning to fend for herself and I think by then I would have just given up but she has perserverence and I admire her for it.