When you grow up, your surroundings influence the choices you make and how you grow up. 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 texts composed by Cat Stevens. These four lyrics express the theme of "how your surroundings can influence your choices when you grow up." In the short story "On the Sidewalk Bleeding", the character Andy shows the theme of "how your surroundings can influence your choices when you grow up" as well as being influenced by his upbringing to join a gang called the Royals. At the beginning of the story Andy remembers how he got 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 believed it was the right thing to do. Andy is stabbed in an alley and the perpetrator shouts "take that Royal". Andy was recognized as a Royal because he proudly wore his purple Royals sweater. As he is bleeding out on the sidewalk, he begins to realize that the only reason he was stabbed was because he was royalty. He thinks to himself “they didn't stab Andy, they stabbed a Royal and now Andy is dying”. Andy then uses all his dwindling energy to take off his purple Royals sweater because he wants nothing to do with it. This is a very unfortunate story. It showed me that the decisions you make when you are influenced by your surroundings may not always be positive, as the result was Andy's stabbing. "Father and Son" is a song composed by Cat Stevens. The lyrics are from... middle of the paper... and I was raised that way. When Gerry goes to camp there is some initial conflict. He then begins to change his ways and befriends one of his African-American teammates, Julies Campbell. Gerry changes his ways and starts respecting people for who they are “when I met you I only hated my brother” just like when Andy is bleeding and realizes he doesn't want to be part of a gang anymore. Both Andy and Gerry's original way, influenced by their surroundings, was incorrect and they both realized this on their own. When you grow up, your surroundings influence your decisions, whether it is family members or the environment. “On the Sidewalk Bleeding,” “Father and Son,” “The Hunger Games” and “Remember the Titans” showed me how your surroundings can affect how you grow up, both for better and for worse...