1. Shorter 1
Tiffani Shorter
Mr. Morehouse
English 11
29 April 2015
Literary Analysis
I chose to do my essay over Queer theory, because I feel as if Walter questioned his
sexuality quite often. "Queer theory is a field of post-structuralist critical theory that emerged in
the early 1990s out of the fields of queer studies and women's studies. Queer theory includes
both queer readings of texts and the theorisation of 'queerness' itself. Heavily influenced by the
work of Lauren Berlant, Leo Bersani, Judith Butler, Lee Edelman, Jack Halberstam,[1] David
Halperin, José Esteban Muñoz, and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, queer theory builds both upon
feminist challenges to the idea that gender is part of the essential self and upon gay/lesbian
studies' close examination of the socially constructed nature of sexual acts and identities.
Whereas gay/lesbian studies focused its inquiries into natural and unnatural behaviour with
respect to homosexual behaviour, queer theory expands its focus to encompass any kind of
sexual activity or identity that falls into normative and deviant categories." (Wikipedia).
In Bad Boy, the author made me feel as if Walter was scared to talk to any of his family
about his friends. It could have been because some of them were bad, or because he may have
had feelings for them. Walter might not have known how his parents would react if they found
out. Walter is a nice kid at times, and seems like he might not want to lose the few friends that
he had. Perhaps Walter had mentioned it to someone, and they judged him so he didn't want to
let anyone else find out.
In Bad Boy, Walter had to go see a psychiatrist and talk about his life basically. The
psychiatrist asked Walter, "Have you had sex before?" (Bad Boy), Walter replied with "Yes."
When Walter answered that he had lied, but why would he lie? In my opinion, Walter could have
2. been scared to tell her that he hasn't had sex, or he could have been trying to cover up the fact
that he is gay. Walter might have been scared about coming out, because then he'd have to talk
about it. "Coming out forces you to talk about sex. Obviously, sexual orientation is about a
whole lot more than sex, but sex isn't absent from the equation." (Scared to Come Out).
The author presents this book as a traditional narrative, but is still hesitant on some
subjects. The author never comes out in the book and says that Walter is gay or has gay
thoughts. Instead, us readers just think what we want. Others may think that we are thinking too
deeply when we get the thought that Walter is a homosexual. There is nothing wrong with being
gay, if anything it is just hard to come out.
Some may ask, "why must men and women have essential traits?" (Shmoop). I feel as if
people have made it this way because of the different characteristics we have. As Sigmund
Freud said, "since men have a penis, they have inherent social and societal power called the
phallus." (Shmoop). This is an example of how people set those traits and how they're enforced.
The world would be a different place if no one judged, and if everyone could be treated equally,
but sadly society has ruined that. Hopefully, one day we will be able to get to that point in life.
Shorter 3
Works Cited
Freud, Sigmund. "Sigmund Freud." - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Sigmund, n.d. Web. 04
May 2015.
Friedrichs, Ellen. "I Am Scared to Come Out - I Know I Like Guys But I'm Not Ready to Come
Out." Teens Scared to Come Out. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.
"Queer Theory." - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.
![Shorter 1
Tiffani Shorter
Mr. Morehouse
English 11
29 April 2015
Literary Analysis
I chose to do my essay over Queer theory, because I feel as if Walter questioned his
sexuality quite often. "Queer theory is a field of post-structuralist critical theory that emerged in
the early 1990s out of the fields of queer studies and women's studies. Queer theory includes
both queer readings of texts and the theorisation of 'queerness' itself. Heavily influenced by the
work of Lauren Berlant, Leo Bersani, Judith Butler, Lee Edelman, Jack Halberstam,[1] David
Halperin, José Esteban Muñoz, and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, queer theory builds both upon
feminist challenges to the idea that gender is part of the essential self and upon gay/lesbian
studies' close examination of the socially constructed nature of sexual acts and identities.
Whereas gay/lesbian studies focused its inquiries into natural and unnatural behaviour with
respect to homosexual behaviour, queer theory expands its focus to encompass any kind of
sexual activity or identity that falls into normative and deviant categories." (Wikipedia).
In Bad Boy, the author made me feel as if Walter was scared to talk to any of his family
about his friends. It could have been because some of them were bad, or because he may have
had feelings for them. Walter might not have known how his parents would react if they found
out. Walter is a nice kid at times, and seems like he might not want to lose the few friends that
he had. Perhaps Walter had mentioned it to someone, and they judged him so he didn't want to
let anyone else find out.
In Bad Boy, Walter had to go see a psychiatrist and talk about his life basically. The
psychiatrist asked Walter, "Have you had sex before?" (Bad Boy), Walter replied with "Yes."
When Walter answered that he had lied, but why would he lie? In my opinion, Walter could have](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/ce62f160-f507-4aa7-a3e5-91547f4feefd-151220200543/85/turnessayinherewhenfinishedtiffanishorter-1-320.jpg)
