Each individual views the world in his own way, however when one is young, ones viewpoint tends to be different of anyone else's; even that of the very same person, years later. The youthful viewpoint is full of ideas, while still open to new ones. It is an adventurous one, yet afraid of the unknown that the future may hold. Since seems that this view is lost with time and aging, the best evidence of it is the first hand account of a young person. Two of these first hand sources are Sylvia Plath's "Reflections of a Seventeen Year-Old", and Yusef Komunyakaa's "Slam, Dunk & Hook."

In Sylvia Plath's "Reflections", she very accurately depicts the conflicting emotions of a teenager. While she is excited about the future, while almost showing nostalgia for the present. This is a bit strange, but shows the extent of which she believes that "now...