In the story, “Seventh Grade,” Victor, the main character, learns valuable lessons such as to think before you say something and that hard work pays off, through his embarrassing situations. For instance, in paragraph twenty-three and twenty-four, Soto wrote that Victor was asked by his teacher to give an example of a noun, but accidentally gave the name of his crush, Teresa’s, and all the girls in the class started giggling since they knew about this. Here, Victor was so infatuated with Teresa that he didn’t realize what he was saying, causing him to embarrass himself. He learned that he shouldn’t let himself lose control since he might further cause embarrassment. In addition, the author wrote in paragraph 43, that Victor volunteered to speak
In conclusion, the author of 145th Street Short Stories by Walter Dean Myers uses conflict, flashbacks and irony to develop the theme of insecurity in “Fighter” and “Kitty and Mack: A Love Story.” Billy and Mack both suffer from internal conflicts that caused them to be insecure. Billy lets his failures in life to control him and hold him back in accomplishing things. Meanwhile Mack loathes himself because he believes that he won’t be able to be the man he once was. Myers is trying to demonstrate that people should beware that some people are deeply hurt and insecure insecure and should try to help them overcome it. However, insecure people should also help themselves and not let their insecurities control their life and make them forget who they can really be and
Victor not being able to read made him dread going to school because his teacher would require students to read out loud. Victor states how having to read out loud was not his only fear but many other things as well. He was also extremely fearful of facing the world without his mother. That is another reason victor also hated staying at school because his mother could not stay with him. After a while, Victor learned soon enough to adapt to being without his mother, realizing that everything would be Ok. He also began to make friends at school, which helped him be a bit more comfortable at school. One of the boys he hung out with the most was his friend Ramón. This boy Ramon inspired and motivated Victor to become brave like him. In Chapter four we see an example of this where Victor states “I quit crying, just like that. My God, I couldn’t believe it, this boy Ramon had to be the bravest boy I had ever seen” (Villaseñor 64).Victor makes it clear about how he admires Ramon for his bravery and also refers to Ramon’s personality as his motivation for courage. I learned how Victor in this book changes from a young fearful boy to a brave gritty young man proud of his Mexican roots. Fear is a great motivator.
In the passage, Indian Education we start off by following Victor who is a Indian boy from the Reservation, from first grade up to high school. Even though he is bullied in first grade, Victor finally gets payback when he gets even on Frenchy SiJohn by shoving his face in the snow and then starts punching Frenchy over and over again. Victor undergoes bad luck as the next two years he has two mean teachers in second and in third grade that do not like him very much, but luckily in fourth grade, he has a teacher named Mr. Schluter who inspires him to become a doctor so he can heal his people in the tribe. The next year life takes a turn for the worse as Victor’s cousin begins sniffing rubber cement. If it was not for his new friend Randy the
...eral. Richard was named as the high achiever of his class and assigned to write the speech of 9th grade graduation. One morning the principal of the school call him to his office to gave him his speech what he had to said on the graduation because there will be white people present in the audience. “ I know that I’m not educated, professor, I said; but the people are coming to hear the students, and I won’t make a speech that you’ve written.”( pg. 174) Richard refuses to read anything but his own speech, against everyone's advice. Richard's family, friends, and classmates tell him to stay clear of difficulties and just present the principal’s speech, but he persistently refuses. As a result, he is rejected more than ever. Ironically, he is now considered to be even more evil, although he has responded to the part of himself which refuses to accept that judgment.
transgression and his vulgar presumption that he can emulate its force. What drives Victor to do
Toni Cade Bambara’s short story “The Lesson” is a story about a group of children living in the slums of New York City around the 1960s and 1970s. They seem to be content living in poverty in some very unsanitary conditions. Miss Moore, the children’s self-appointed mentor takes it upon herself to further their education during the summer months. She feels this is her civic duty because she is educated. She used F.A.O. Schwarz, a very expensive toy store, to teach them a lesson and inspire them to strive for success and attempt to better themselves and their situations. Although the use of language tells the reader a great deal about Sylvia’s background and environment, what is important is the use of foul language which takes us deeper and
So in class we read the short story “Jared” by David Gifaldi. In the short story the main character is named Jared, Jared is a teenage boy with a deformity and is learning to live with it. Towards the end of the story a girl who is unaware of Jared’s appearance is talking to Jared over the phone for a few weeks. The girl decides that she would like to meet Jared which makes him uncomfortable and when it came time to actually meet her face to face. Jared stepped out of his comfort zone and gathered the confidence to meet her. So as an assignment in relation to the story the class was instructed do something that is out of their comfort zone. For example, if a student always wore comfortable clothes to school they should wear nice clothing to
The plot of “The Lesson” contributes to its theme of freeing one's self from a social class. A group of New York City kids, but particularly the narrator, Sylvia, believe that they are better than the other people in their neighborhood, such as the junk man who does his work like he was a big-time president, or their volunteer teacher, Miss Moore. This feeling of superiority is unintentionally encouraged by the parents when they speak of Miss Moore like she is a dog (60). Consequently, Sylvia does not understand the importance of a college degree or that she and all the other children are poor (61). Miss Moore takes the children to F.A.O. Schwarz where they see very expensive toys and even a woman wearing a fur coat during summer; the children develop the general opinion that the “white folks crazy” (61-63). One toy in particular that catches their attention while window sh...
Victor grows up in school both on the American Indian Reservation, then later in the farm town junior high. He faces serious discrimination at both of these schools, due to his Native American background. This is made clear in both of the schools by the way the other students treat him as well as how his teachers treat him. His classmates would steal his glasses, trip him, call him names, fight him, and many other forms of bullying. His teachers also bullied him verbally. One of his teachers gave him a spelling test and because he aced it, she made him swallow the test. When Victor was at a high school dance and he passed out on the ground. His teacher approached him and the first thing he asked was, “What’s that boy been drinking? ...
The story unfolds when, “Lengel, the store’s manager” (2191) confronts the girls because they are dressed inappropriately. To Sammy, it is a moment of embarrassment and in defiance he quits his job. The student suggests that in quitting, “Sammy challenges social inequality and is a person who is trying to
Daisy lacks self confidence which made it harder to raise her fifteen year-old son Donny. There were many instances where Daisy pondered on what she can do better to help Donny in school, but as she put forth an effort, she always resisted. “She remembered when Amanda was born. Donny had acted lost and bewildered. Daisy had been alert to that of course, but still, a new baby keeps you busy of course….”(570) When Daisy saw this happening, she never stopped to reassure Donny that even though he had a sister, it was not going to change their relationship. Daisy should have reassured her son by correcting the problem as soon as it surfaced, then Donny should have understood. When Donny started to have problems in school, Daisy gave up without trying, and let a tutor dictate her son’s activities especially when the teacher questions Daisy about Donny’s actions, Daisy replied, “Oh I’m sorry, Miss Evans, but Donny’s tutor handles these things now…” (572) In school Donny’s behavior changed soo drastically that he started to stay out late and Daisy just sat back and let this happen. “The tutor had sat down so many rules![She] were not allowed any questions at all about school, nor were to speak with his teachers…,Only one teacher disobeyed…”(572) Because Daisy didn’t believe in herself or her word, she let others control and therefore his behavior worsened.
Victor remembers his childhood as a happy time with Elizabeth, Henry and his mother and father. But looking back, Victor see’s his first tragic event, the death of his mother as “an omen, as it were, of [his] future misery.” Chapter 2 He blames his passion for education as the impetus to his suffering. “in drawing the picture of my early days, I also record those events which led, by insensible steps, to my after tale of misery: for when I would account to myself for the birth of that passion, which afterwards ruled my destiny” CHAPTER 2
...e a man suddenly dies. The child is evidently traumatized and evidently so. We see that Mrs. Hernandez tries to coax him into having some well deserved cake and he refuses it. She seems to be quite unconcerned by the event that had just occurred and indulges in the dessert plate with little sympathy for the man who was presumed dead. It is as if Mrs. Hernandez’s main focus was to be present in the upper class event and nothing could prevent her from remaining focused on enjoying it. Victor’s behavior can be blamed on how an individual responds to an environment that is outside of his comfort zone or one that is dominated by a particular gender.
As a consequent of the main character completely consuming him to one young lady, he both loses and gains something through a lesson. His gain is ...
This past August, more than 50 million kids between the ages four and eighteen participated in what they know as a fact of life: public education (1). For many, school is a place where a child is free to learn, create, explore and grow. However, John Holt has a much different opinion. In his essay, “School is Bad for Children,” Holt brings to light what he perceives are the inadequacies of public schools, along with suggestions to make them more effective. Though several of Holt’s accusations are based on truth, unfortunately, the logic and structure of his essay are flawed. In “School is Bad for Children,” John Holt is ineffective in convincing his audience of the faults of and need for change in schools because of his logical fallacies,