Teenage Scholar
“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” ― Albert Einstein. In The Chosen by Chaim Potok, there stands one main character that voices the book and leads the readers through the story. Teenage Reuven Malter is dedicated to his religious studies and at school. In one unlikely event, he meets his new friend who has a different religion from him. Reuven gains a new friend and learns about this other religion. He possesses character qualities that make him a very likeable character. His maturity is generous for his age. The three main character traits that Reuven possesses are curiosity, knowledge, and reflectiveness.
Reuven Malter displays his athleticism in the opening scene of the book. His coach, Mr. Galanter picks Reuven to play in certain positions based on his abilities. Reuven had proved to his coach that he was an excellent 2nd baseman and pitcher. “....I had become quite adept at second base and had also developed a swift underhand pitch that would tempt a batter into a swing but would drop into a curve at the last moment and slide just below the flaying bat for a strike.” (6) Reuven’s involvement with the baseball team is a big part of who he is. If it wasn’t for that one game he would have never met Danny and had the friendship that he has.
…show more content…
His brain comprehends complex mathematical formulas which he understands in depth. Reuven is pursuing a career as a mathematician. He also comprehends all his religious studies at school and with his father. His knowledge is shown in the debate and quizzes he is involved in with Reb Saunders. “One of the gematriyot was wrong,” I said………”The gematriya for ‘prozdor’ is five hundred and three, not five hundred and thirteen,” I answered. “Good, very good,” Reb Saunders said.”
In the Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett, Homer and Mother Maria both display straightforward, hardworking, and stubborn character traits. Firstly, Homer and Mother Maria both display a straightforward personality by being brutally honest about their opinions. For example, when Mother Maria asks Homer to build a chapel, Homer speaks his mind by telling her he does not want to build it. Mother Maria shows her straightforward behavior during Homer’s stay at the convent. One morning, when Homer sleeps in late, Mother to becomes extremely upset and is not afraid to show how she feels about him. Secondly, both Homer and Mother Maria display a hardworking spirit. Homer is a hardworking man because after finally agreeing to build the chapel,
Three main character that he shows compassion through in different ways are, Reuven, Mr. Malter and Reb Sanders. To begin with, Reuven shows great companion for other, even in his teenage years. He demonstrates throughout the book that he really cares for others and that he takes their burden upon himself. He shows how he actually suffers with others with their hardships and he never only thinks about himself. For example, when Reuven learns that his little friend Billy did not get his eye sight back, the book says, “I felt myself break out into cold sweat.
John Knowles wrote a fantastic novel entitled A Separate Peace. Some important character in the novel were Gene, Finny, Leper, and Brinker. Gene and Finny were best friends; Leper was the outcast; Brinker was the “hub of the class” This was a novel about friendship, betrayal, war, peace, and jealousy. Although Gene and Finny were similar in many ways, they also had numerous differences.
In The Chosen, Potok describes the Jewish culture during the period of World War I. Beginning with the affluence of Polish Jews before the war, Potok established a circle of relationships. In the book, there are three main relationships. The first one is father-son, between Danny and his father, Reb Saunders and between Reuven and his father, David Malter. The relationship between Reuven and Danny is the second main relationship in The Chosen.
Both have matured due to the influential events by one another. They will forever have memories of why they are the way they are today due to one another. These pivotal moments changed the course of their friendships, and their lives. Reuven’s view of others and his understanding of relationships will now effect any thoughts he has along those
In The Chosen, Reuven is very easily influenced by the people around him as he goes through his adolescence. It is a time of learning and self-realization for him, and at this time, he turns to his father for guidance and wisdom. His father shows him the ways of understanding and compassion. He also prepares him for what lies ahead, whether his son chooses to be a rabbi or not. Through his father’s teachings, Reuven develops the personal traits essential for becoming a rabbi.
The play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry has many interesting characters. In my opinion, the most fascinating character is Ruth because of her many emotions and captivating personality. She goes through extreme emotions in the play such as happiness, sadness, anger, stress, and confusion. Ruth is very independent, firm, kind, witty, and loving.
In John Knowles’ A Separate Peace, it is shown that competition negatively affects Gene and Finny’s relationship.When Gene starts to see the argumentative aspect in Finny, he can’t help but to envy him and how he finesses around his problems: “Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn’t help envying him a little, which was perfectly normal” (Knowles 25). This example shows the competitive aspect in Gene’s personality. Gene is jealous and wants to be like Finny, and this negatively affects their relationship. Gene clearly has some jealousy because he wants to be able to get out of problems like Finny does. Usually though, Finny is the one that makes Gene jealous or competitive. Another way that finny makes gene feel bad is when he challenges
Before going to Alaska, Chris McCandless had failed to communicate with his family while on his journey; I believe this was Chris’s biggest mistake. Chris spent time with people in different parts of the nation while hitchhiking, most of them whom figured out that McCandless kept a part of him “hidden”. In chapter three, it was stated that Chris stayed with a man named Wayne Westerberg in South Dakota. Although Westerberg was not seen too often throughout the story, nevertheless he was an important character. Introducing himself as Alex, McCandless was in Westerberg’s company for quite some time: sometimes for a few days, other times for several weeks. Westerberg first realized the truth about Chris when he discovered his tax papers, which stated that “McCandless’s real name was Chris, not Alex.” Wayne further on claims that it was obvious that “something wasn’t right between him and his family” (Krakauer 18). Further in the book, Westerberg concluded with the fact that Chris had not spoken to his family “for all that time, treating them like dirt” (Krakauer 64). Westerberg concluded with the fact that during the time he spent with Chris, McCandless neither mentioned his
AP English Literature and Composition MAJOR WORKS DATA SHEET Title: A Raisin In the Sun Author: Lorraine Hansberry Date of Publication: 1951 Genre: Realistic Drama Biographical Information about the Author Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago on May 19, 1930. She grew up as the youngest in her family. Her mother was a teacher and her father was a real estate broker.
In the first scene of “Proof,” the audience sees that Robert not only passes along his mathematical ability to Catherine but also passes along his trust in her, opening the path for her to turn the mathematical ability into greatness. While Catherine admits that her education was “living in this house for twenty-five years” (Auburn 64), Robert knows that Cather...
From the hood life, ghetto neighborhood, Three African-American made a pact to become successful doctors and face the obstacles that can lead them to down fall together. The Pact, a memoir written by Dr. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt, describes their story in the 1980s of becoming doctors and the struggle that they faced. The three Young men were each other’s motivator. They followed each other’s steps and helped themselves succeed. One of them is Sampson Davis, a kid who grew up in those bad circumstances but still made it through that path and became a doctor.
I think that Chris is a very motivated person. He knows what he wants and he is willing to do anything to get there. This quote describes when Gallien was trying to persuade Chris not to go through with his hitchhiking plan, “But he wouldn’t give an inch. He had an answer for everything I threw at him” (Krakauer 7). This quote shows the depth of his motivated character because of his unwillingness to change his mind. Additionally, I also think that Chris has a very optimistic character and outlook on life. Chris is not willing to totally accept the danger of what he is about to do because he is quick to hope for the best. Proof of this character trait can be found in the following quote, “‘I’m absolutely positive… I won’t run into anything I can’t deal with on my own’” (Krakauer 7).
All through the entire book, Chaim Potok attempted various endeavor in order to express the emphasis on developing his central characters, Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders. One of the main themes Chaim Potok tried to express in The Chosen is that true friendship plays a vital role in maintaining the welfare of any friends. To backbone his idea, Chaim Potok demonstrated several scenarios when Reuven and Danny are in difficult situations and ultimately have to sort out solutions before the problems could corrupt their relationship. Reuven Malter, son of a Modern Orthodox teacher, is smart, athletic and has a particular nick for mathematics. However, Reuven's desire is to become a rabbi of his own sect for he feels that he could " be more useful to people as a rabbi ," ("The Chosen" 74) by doing things such as to " teach them, and help them when they're in trouble " ("The Chosen" 74) Danny Saunders, on the other hand, is the son of a Russian Hasidic rabbi leader, Reb Saunders.
... to his regular spot in the sun field and Earl hit him some long flies, all of which he ran for and caught with gusto, even those that went close to the wall, which was unusual for him because he didn’t like to go too near it.” (51) In this description of Bump’s work habits, the reader sees that Roy’s presence affects the other players on the team. Bump starts working hard and the team begins winning more and more games. Malamud’s visual, tactile, and auditory imagery dominate the relationship between Bump and Roy.