When you grow up, your environment influences the choices you make and the way you grow. The four texts I studied are a short story “On the Sidewalk Bleeding” written by Evan Hunter, a novel “The Hunger Games” by Susan Collins, a film “Remember the Titans” directed by Jerry Bruckheimer and lyrics composed by Cat Stevens. These four texts express the theme of "how the environment can influence your choices growing up." In the short story "On the Sidewalk Bleeding", the character Andy displays the theme of "how the environment can influence your choices growing up" as it is. influenced by his upbringing to join a gang called the Royals. As the story begins, Andy remembers how he was accepted into the Royals and that it was the happiest moment of his life. He joins the Royals to feel accepted. His decision was influenced by his upbringing in a ghetto environment, which made him believe it would be cool to join a gang. He also thought it was the right thing to do. Andy gets stabbed in an alley and the offender yells “take that Royal”. Andy was recognized as a Royal because he wore his purple Royals sweater with pride. As he lies bleeding on the sidewalk, he begins to realize that the only reason he was stabbed was because he was a Royal. He's like, "They didn't stab Andy, they stabbed a Royal and now Andy is dying." Andy then uses all of his waning energy to take off his purple Royals sweater because he wants nothing to do with it. It's a very unfortunate story. It showed me that the decisions you make when you're influenced by your environment aren't always positive, because Andy was stabbed. “Father and Son” is a song composed by Cat Stevens. The lyrics come from...... middle of paper ...... e was raised that way. When Gerry leaves for camp, there is a first conflict. He then begins to change his habits and becomes friends with one of his African-American teammates, Julies Campbell. Gerry changes his ways and starts respecting people for who they are "when I knew you, I only hated my brother", just like when Andy is bleeding and he realizes he no longer wants to be a part of 'a gang. Andy and Gerry's original methods, influenced by their environments, were not correct and they both realized this themselves. When you're growing up, your environment influences your decisions, whether it's your family members or your environment. “On the Sidewalk Bleeding,” “Father and Son,” “The Hunger Games” and “Remember the Titans” showed me how the environment can influence the way we grow up, whether for better or worse..