Category: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

As early reading literature was created as a stepping stone for children to be able to read and enjoy books themselves, some writing can be seen as toxic for the reader which can ultimately impact the overall well being of individuals within their society. Specifically, these toxic issues seem to occur within stories that feature a young boy and their status around friends and loved ones. In Sharon Creech’s Hate That Cat, we see our main character Jack and his struggles to convey his emotions to his uncle in a fashion that he expresses greater interest in, and in Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid our main character Greg struggles to survive in his middle school life when all he wants is to gain connections with others within his class and get the approval from his dad and brother. Common themes and standards, such as masculinity, are prevalent in society as well as literature, yet these standards seem to demoralize those and that should be noted. We are able to see the connections as the characters within our children’s stories are both falling into and breaking out of these expectations of toxic masculinity based on their day to day lives and interactions.

In order to make connections with our characters regarding the topic of toxic masculinity, it is important to define the term so we are able to understand what we are looking for. Connecting with others increases happiness, but in close proximity, people routinely ignore each other. At a young age, most men were told the same thing, ‘act like a man.’ You were in charge of helping yourself, and the message of needing others was showing a sign of weakness. However, these misguided notions of masculinity at such a young age can create a phenomenon of health problems as well as loneliness, which can ultimately spiral into worse situations. Living in a society that focuses so much on how they believe you should act starts the process for an individual to crave what is in their self-conscious mind. According to Niobe Way, a New York University psychology professor in an NPR broadcast, ‘These are human beings with unbelievable emotional and social capacity. And we as a culture just completely try to zip it out of them.’ The older we get, we are finding people are becoming trapped in what they believe society wants them to be. Similar to anthropologist Emilie Durkheim and his study of social behavior; in saying the right to make one’s will appear at a certain phase of history offers a fairly exact clue to the particular stage of social evolution. These men are supposed to act to a certain length simply because other men around them are acting another way that is deemed more appropriate and the norm towards society. To provide a positive social interaction we think that we need to act a certain way around set groups of people, and if not it will only cause this social behavior to result in conflict and coercion. These concepts and ideas of toxic masculinity define the norms, values, and structures of society and ultimately can be seen as the destruction of individuals as well as society.

Within both Hate That Cat as well as Diary of a Wimpy Kid, our main characters are ultimately affected by the older men in their lives. For each of our main characters Jack and Greg, these older men both appear to be direct descent from their families – for Jack, it is his uncle and Greg is both his dad and his older brother Rodrick. Jack’s uncle and Greg’s father and brother can be seen as characters who have fallen into this toxic masculinity and are trying to impact the overall decisions of both Jack and Greg. Similarly to Arjun Shankar’s article “Masculinity, Toxicity, Value, and Film,” masculinity can a lot of the times be expressed in the most toxic manner affecting most importantly men but as well as the people who are surrounding them. Men begin to embrace these toxicities which get pushed onto others continuing this cycle. Jack loves to write poetry the way he develops it, however, Jack’s uncle insists that “the words that he writes were NOT poems” (Creech 6). It is seen that Jack’s uncle has been engineered to believe that only poetry that rhymes is the poetry that would be accepted by anyone, as opposed to Jack’s poetry which simply conveys emotion from the words on the pages. Jack’s uncle continues to count only his poetry as ‘real writing’ defining the norm he believes exists and tries to mold Jack to represent himself in only one way – “and that a poem has to rhyme” (Creech 6). Putting down Jack’s passion is ultimately going to result in these toxicities of one’s true self, resulting in those ideas of conflict and coercion.

As well, the actions of Greg’s father and brother are a result of those embraced toxicities which often are tried to be thrown on to Greg himself. Actions that can be seen as belittling and open ideas of conflict are what Greg’s father and brother believe are the only way ‘boys should act.’ On Halloween, Greg’s father enjoys the holiday but for a different reason – “while all the other parents are handing out candy, Dad is hiding in the bushes with a big trash can full of water. And if any teenagers pass by our driveway, he drenches them” (Kinney 49). Greg himself enjoys the true nature behind Halloween such as dressing up and going trick or treating but is surrounded by this behavior of how his family believes boys should act on the holiday. As for his brother Rodrick, toxicities come from the fact that he is always trying to put Greg down for the things that he does although Greg should not be ashamed of the choices he makes on his own. When Greg was performing in his school’s play any confidence he had was diminished as soon as Rodrick was going to record him. He had known that if “Rodrick recorded it, he would keep the tape forever and use it to humiliate me for the rest of his life” (Kinney 110). The pictures on page 110 showing the smirking look of Rodrick’s face also allow the reader to show what lengths it takes for Rodrick to do anything to humiliate his brother Greg. Any opportunity that Greg had to express interest in certain things no longer could exist due to the negative social interactions that are a constant in his life. When the loved ones in young men’s lives start to push these toxic masculinities onto them in everyday life it will ultimately continue onto others surrounding them.

Throughout both of our stories, we are introduced to several characters that seem to break out of these toxicities that are present within their society. Each of these supporting characters are able to inspire both Jack and Greg as they show it is okay to step out of the norm without having to fear judgment. Based on studies that were conducted within Rachel Grieve’s article “Masculinity Might Be More Toxic than We Think: The Influence of Gender Roles on Trait Emotional Manipulation,” it was determined that emotional manipulation could possibly be decreased if the norms of gender roles were switched/skewed. Such studies can be compared to both the characters Miss Strechberry and Rowley as they are able to skew their thought past the norms people have given their society and express themselves in a way which they deem appropriate for them. Throughout each of the days Jack has made prompts in Hate That Cat we see different writing styles that he had learned while he was in Miss Strechberry’s class. Poems that Jack had been creating were inspired by various famous poets who each had their own unique style of poetry far from Uncle Bill’s rhyme poems, as well as new literary tools to add texture to his writing. Miss Strechberrry was able to show Jack that famous poets such as Edgar Allan Poe, and literary ideas such as metaphors, alliterations, and onomatopoeia give much more success than any simple rhyme poems because each had its own uniqueness to it. As well within Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Greg’s best friend Rowley appeared much more happy than others as he did not focus on the norms of trying to fit in and continued to do whatever made himself happy. Whenever Rowley is at school and sees Greg to ask “Want to come over to my house and play?,” (Kinney 18) Greg sees it as just another way to embarrass himself, but for Rowley, it is him just showing his gratitude that he has for his best friend. Throughout the entirety of the story, we see because of the way Rowley is and acts, it almost makes him more popular because he is not trying to mold with how people think it is appropriate to act. Each of these characters has a skewed mindest, setting them aside from the norms in society but not necessarily viewed in a bad way.

For each of our main characters Jack and Greg we are able to see that when they are surrounded by these toxicities in their everyday lives, the overall attitudes of each of them are changing in a negative manner. Within David Morris’ journal “Boys Will Be Boys: Power, Patriarchy, and Toxic Masculinity” he discusses how society has conditioned men to take on this role of “being a man,” and maintain this power. His feelings suggest that it is okay to express emotions such as sadness because it simply shows that they are humans. If you are unable to express these simple emotions, ideas of toxic masculinity will take over ultimately ruining any relationships that are formed or what could be. In Hate That Cat, all Jack wants to be able to do is express himself in the poetry that he has an interest in. It should never be a problem to express themselves how they want but there is a hindrance due to the things going on around him and the disapproval of his Uncle. Jack always wants to “punch him” (Creech 7) because his Uncle Bill is trying to maintain his power proving his way is better than Jack’s. Jack wants to express these emotions but since he is always judged by his uncle it is putting more of a negative connotation on their relationship rather than supporting each other. As for Greg, all of his surroundings make him out to have negative attitudes towards everything since he is so focused on the whole stigma of ‘being a man.’ He thinks so highly of what others think rather than the opinions of himself that these toxicities are starting to take over. At Greg’s birthday party, his younger brother Manny had a gift for him that was labeled “To Bubby!” (Kinney 22) Embarrassed of the sweet gestures from his baby brother and with thoughts of ridicule from his peers Greg throws away the gift ultimately creating a negative relationship between himself and his family. Both Jack and Greg’s relationships with their families are impacted due to the ideas of toxic masculinity that are present. Their attitudes are what is causing this disconnect because they are unable to break away from this idea.

It is clear to see that men are eager to make these connections and express their passions but are too nervous about the repercussions that would come along with it. It is crucial that we are willing to listen to those, as well as these men need to be willing to admit these feelings and interests to their loved ones. Some writings, such as Hate that Cat and Diary of a Wimpy Kid can be seen as toxic for the reader which can ultimately impact the overall well being of individuals within their society. We are able to see as the characters within our children’s stories are both falling into and breaking out of these expectations of toxic masculinity based on their day to day lives and interactions. If we are not cautious of these details in our everyday lives, we can find that people are becoming trapped in what they believe society wants them to be which can be carried over to our literature.

For my research paper I decided to find out more about someone who I looked up to as a kid, Jeff Kinney. In elementary school, reading used to be what you would find me doing the most. I ended up getting hooked on the series “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” which was written by Jeff Kinney. These books were very comical and relatable to my own life which made me want to read more. I sometimes would stop and think about who Jeff Kinney was and what his life was like. The purpose of this essay is to explain who Jeff Kinney is and his impact on readers. My essay is composed of Jeff’s early childhood, where he went to school, why he began writing, and his impact on readers today. I personally believe that Jeff Kinney is the greatest author of all time because he is determined, proud, and decorated as an author.

Jeffery Patrick Kinney was born on February 19, 1971 in a town located just outside of Washington D.C. known as Fort Washington, Maryland. When he was little, always was very imaginative and had a positive mindset. He was very creative and artistic and loved to read. As Jeff got older, he was inspired by other literature authors and began doing it himself. He spent his high school years at Bishop McNamara High School and then went on to attend the University of Maryland, where he would create Idgoof. Igdoof is a comic strip that Jeff created that began blowing up around the school’s campus where it was even featured in the school Newspaper. People thought this comic was truly funny and from there on out he knew that he wanted to be a cartoonist.

After college, Jeff decided to move to New England to pursue his dream of writing and drawing. One day he came up with an idea called “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”, a comical book that features the life of Greg Heffley. It contains cartoons on almost every page that give the reader a sense of what is going on in the story and picture it in their minds. At the time he had no idea that this would be the book that would shape his entire career. It took Jeff around nine years to fully write the book and have it published in 2007. To this date, there are currently thirteen books to the series and has sold over 200 million copies worldwide.

To go along with the series, there have been four movies produced that are based on the series. The first movie “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” debuted in 2007, followed by “Rodrick Rules” in 2001, “Dog Days” in 2012, and finally The Long Haul in 2017. The movies revolve around the day to day life of middle school student Greg Heffley who always find himself in trouble. The rest of Greg’s family always seems to annoy him but thanks to his best friend, Rowley, Greg does just fine. These movies contain funny moments that are based off the books. These moments can include such as Greg Heffley’s brother, Rodrick beating him up or the family dog eating their dinner for the night. People remember these funny moments and tell them to their friends which helped the whole series to spread. The most iconic moment was shown in the original movie, the “cheese touch”. The “cheese touch” is a piece of cheese that has been sitting on the pavement of the school playground for years. One day, a boy touched the cheese and everyone began saying that he had the cheese touch. If you were “infected” with the cheese touch, everyone would run from you until you touched someone else and got rid of it. Kids around the world thought it was hilarious and started doing it as a joke in there own schools. It became a classic moment of the entire series.

The entire “Diary of a Wimpy” kid series has inspired kids today all around the world. Jeff believes that reading is the key to developing a healthy mindset in children early, so that when they are older they have the necessary skills to read and write later in life. He even says this in a quote himself, “Books uniquely teach empathy because they allow the reader to see life from a different point of view” (Ferguson). Reading can make people feel like they are wanted in the world if they can connect to the story, which is what Jeff aims for. Kids from the age of early elementary school to even high schoolers are hooked on these books because of how funny they can be.

Jeff purposely uses real life situations in his books to try and make kids feel like they are in a scenario that they can relate to in real life. Kinney has even been quoted saying, “I keep hearing how important it is for kids to feel seen – and they can feel seen by an author, when an author recognises their situation and describes the way they feel” (Ferguson). He feels as though his readers are mature and can understand literature at a young age which will help them as they grow. I can also relate to this firsthand as I used to be a huge fan of this series. After reading many of the books, I would try to draw and recreate the cartoons that were in the story. I became almost “addicted” to the series and eventually I would be reading them at the supermarket, in the car, or even in my own bed at night. It gave me a sense that reading is fun and that I could do anything I wanted if I out my mind to it. It’s the reason why Jeff writes his books, to inspire kids around the world like me to want to read. His series has now become so popular that you can find many of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” books in classrooms or libraries anywhere.

From this series alone, Jeff Kinney has become a New York Times best selling author and has been named as one of the most influential people in the world. He has won numerous awards such as the Goodreads Choice Award, Kids Choice Award for best book, and even the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award to name a few of them because there are so many. Out of the whole experience, Jeff has gained a huge following and a lot of fame to go with it. While he’s gone through all of that, he’s never forgotten where he came from. Jeff isn’t about the luxury and living in Hollywood. Today he lives in Plainville, Massachusetts with his wife and two sons. To this day, he still spends most of his time writing and thinking of new books and ideas. He even states this saying, Yesterday, I spent a good part of the day in a graveyard, sitting in my car, writing jokes. No-one bothers me there” (Stephenson). At this point, it doesn’t seem like the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series will be ending any time soon. Jeff has even taken time out of his writing to build a brand new book store using his own money. The store is called An Unlikely Story right where he currently lives in Plainville. Right when the store first opened, hundreds of people went in to check it out and it became an extremely popular new bookstore. He even did two events there and met fans to sign autographs and take pictures with them. An Unlikely Story was even featured on national TV which built up the hype around it and spread the news of the store to fans all around the country. It is a very unique bookstore that has books and candles hanging from the ceiling which sort of describes Jeff’s personality. The store is filled with hundreds of books that have any type of genre any reader could ever want. He is humble yet he is also unique with his writing style.

In conclusion, I agree with my thesis statement that Jeff Kinney is determined, proud, and decorated as an author. He is determined because Jeff still writes his books with a passion even though he already has plenty of money to live out the rest of his life. He writes his books for children and not for himself. He does it to inspire kids to be whatever they want to be and to get them motivated to want to read. Jeff is proud because he is a father of two and has a wife. He is not only proud of his family, but also takes pride in writing his books which he spends many hours of his days doing. Kinney is decorated as an author because he has won many prestigious book awards and his “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series has become a New York Times best seller.

It’s a new school year, and Greg Heffley finds himself thrusted into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving. The hazards of growing up before you’re ready are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary. American author/cartoonist Jeff Kinney recalls the growing pains of school life in his best-selling novel “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” through the eyes of main protagonist Greg Heffley, who epitomizes the challenges of being a kid.

The main character, 12 year-old Greg Heffley, whose main goal to gain fame and recognition, as he thinks it is necessary if he wants to survive through middle school. He has a lot of annoying family members including his older brother Rodrick who has his own trashy band called the ‘Loded Diper’, and always finds a way to tick off his brother. Greg also has a baby brother by the name of Manny, who is a troublemaker and always gets away with everything as it is blamed on Greg. Greg’s parents are pretty old fashioned and believe that kids should always be outside and not playing video games. They are quite strict and are pretty quick to place the blame on poor Greg for everything. Joining Greg on his mischiefs and goofs is his best friend Rowley, who Greg is afraid that he will have a hard time fitting in middle school because of his immaturity. It’s a little hard to give a storyline for this book, as there is a bunch of little stories happening at the same time in this novel. At the beginning of the book, his mom goes and buys him a diary in which he writes in. So this book is actually his diary. And most of the plot is about his struggles growing up and adventures in middle school such as Halloween, joining the school safety patrol, acting in the school play.

Depicted in text and comic-strip format, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a great choice for reluctant readers. The characters are well-written and funny, Greg has a clear voice, and this book shows boys and girls alike that keeping a diary – or a journal, whatever you choose to call it – is a good thing. Writing, even to a slacker kid like Greg, can be something fun to do. The book resembles a diary on the inside and out, with lined pages, handwriting font, and hand-drawn pictures that look like Greg had drawn them filling the book. Most of the book is written in present tense, but Greg does go back and explain many things from his childhood to inform the reader a little more.

In my opinion as an avid reader, Diary of a Wimpy is perfect if you want to reminisce about the good old days growing up. The characters are believable, along with their actions and reactions. The book as a whole is very real in a sense that it is completely credible and very well could happen, or has happened. At the end of the book, Greg learned two important life lessons: friendship is more important than being famous, and to always have self-confidence as Greg himself said: “The best person I know is myself”. The Wimpy Kid series is one of the most popular middle-grade series out today, with twelve books currently in print and a thirteenth book planned. So if you want to turn back in time and experience what it felt like being a 12 year-old kid again, I recommend this book highly.

Very good writing and evaluation. You should add a title for each part (introduction, summary, evaluation, conclusion as each of these need being uploaded separately latter to google classroom for a separate mark.

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid are one of the best books in the world, children like it and want to read it a lot. But do you know who made it? That’s right, Jeff Kinney! Jeff Kinney is the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and he’s the bestselling author of the series. He made a lot of them and so far he made 17 books including 2 books made today in 2019.

Jeff Kinney was born on February 19, 1971 in Fort Washington, Maryland. He is still alive today as 48 years old. In his early life, he moved to Washington D.C. when he was a child. He studied in the University of Maryland. Then he moved to New England in 1995. Jeff Kinney was famous for his books. He is a great cartoonist and everybody liked his books. Kids enjoyed his books. When he was young, he wanted to be a great newspaper cartoonist, not to be an author of books. But after he created Igdoof in the campus newspaper, he knew he wanted to become a cartoonist, so he started the series of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He started writing it on 1998 and didn’t publish until the spring of 2007. He finally sold 200 million copies in 70 editions with 59 languages.

Jeff Kinney is always a funny guy within his books and he’s smart, kind, caring, honest, and passionate. Here are some fun facts about Jeff Kinney. The first drawing Jeff can remember is a turtle when he was 3 years old. He started his first book in 1998 to 2007, that was 9 years! Jeff is a cub scout and a volleyball master. His brother wrote a song that was featured in the movie, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Jeff Kinney’s favorite color is blue. Between 2016 and 2017, he won 21 million dollars and continues to get even more every year!

So overall, Jeff Kinney is a famous author who made 13 books in series and 4 other books for fun. He continues to make more every year. He won many awards like “Kids’ choice award for favorite book”, and “Goodreads choice award best mittttKJddle grade and children’s.” Here are some of his quotes, “You can’t expect everyone to have the same dedication as you”, and “If there’s one thing I learned from Rodrick, it’s to set people’s expectations real low so you end up surprising them by practically doing nothing at all.” Jeff Kinney wanted to become a newspaper cartoonist but then he started to like being a cartoonist and now continues to make his wonderful Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. He is now living in Massachusetts with his family and owns a bookstore near his house as the age of 48.