The first day of school can be exciting and adventurous for many people, but for others it may be problematic. In “The First Day” by Edward P. Jones, the girl is having her first day of school by signing up. Her mother tries to sign up at Seaton Elementary School, nonetheless she was not accepted because she was from another district. Jones argues that although this may be an unremarkable first day of school for the girl, it allowed the girl to understand the struggles of placing her in a school because of her mother’s limitations in education. Edward P. Jones employs rhetorical techniques to convey his meaning and to appeal to the readers emotions. In the short story, Jones describes how the mother helps her get ready for school. The mother “uncharacteristically spent nearly an hour” on her hair. Jones also continues by visualizing what the girl ate. Her stomach was full of “milk and oatmeal sweetened with brown sugar” it gave the sense that she was satisfied with her breakfast …show more content…
Through his many visualizations, he has brought precise descriptive writing in his short story to allow us to analyze his thoughts in this little girl’s mind about her mother. The story is written to conceptualize the struggles of an illiterate mother and a “father who has been long gone” who helps her daughter to sign up for school. Jones’ word choice is considerate in that it is effective in showing the little girl’s thoughts. Through his word choice and diction that the mother cannot read or write, it conveys the message that the daughter is the first generation to go to school. This is proven because the mother could not even fill out the form to sign her daughter up for school. If she knew even a little bit of vocabulary, she would have been able to easily fill out the form. Therefore, the daughter is the first person to ever go to school and the mother would not give that up just because one school did not accept
Pashtana said she would rather die than not go to school and acted on her words. Her education is limited and she doesn’t have all the recourses to make school easier, yet she still loves and wants all the knowledge she can get. While I sit in my three story private school, a clean uniform free of holes or loose seams, my macbook air in my lap, the smell of cookies rising up from the cafeteria, wishing to be anywhere else but there. No one has beat me because I want to go to school, no one has forced me into a marriage, I’ve never put my life in jeopardy for the sake of education. Pashtana’s life and choices made me take a moment to stop and reflect on my own life and how fortunate I am to have what I have. We dread the thought of school because to us it is a chore, it’s a hassle, it’s something that messes with our sleep schedule, it is something that gets in the way of lounging around and binge watching Netflix. Pashtana doesn’t take her school and education for granted because she does not have the same liberties we do. While we enjoy driving into the city and shopping over the weekend, Pashtana unwillingly makes wedding arrangements with her cousin. While we complain about our mom nagging us to clean our room, Pashtana is getting beaten by her father because she wants to learn more about the world. While we have stocked fridges and pantries and
...eral topic of school. The sister strives to graduate and go to school even though she is poor while her brother blames the school for him dropping out and not graduating. “I got out my social studies. Hot legs has this idea of a test every Wednesday” (118). This demonstrates that she is driven to study for class and get good grades while her brother tries to convince her that school is worth nothing and that there is no point in attending. “‘Why don’t you get out before they chuck you out. That’s all crap,’ he said, knocking the books across the floor. ‘You’ll only fail your exam and they don’t want failures, spoils their bloody numbers. They’ll ask you to leave, see if they don’t’” (118). The brother tries to convince his sister that school is not a necessity and that living the way he does, being a drop out living in a poverty stricken family is the best thing.
First and most importantly Mike Rose writes the book in the first person. This provides an invaluable view to the actual thoughts and perceptions of a student who considered himself to be underprepared. Mike Rose begins his accounts in grammar school when he felt lost in the material. The teacher did not hold his attention and therefore he began to “daydream to avoid inadequacy” (Rose 19).
Growing up as the young child of sharecroppers in Mississippi, Essie Mae Moody experienced and observed the social and economic deprivation of Southern Blacks. As a young girl Essie Mae and her family struggled to survive, often by the table scraps of the white families her mother worked for. Knowing little other than the squalor of their living conditions, she realizes this disparity while living in a two-room house off the Johnson’s property, whom her mother worked for, watching the white children play, “Here they were playing in a house that was nicer than any house I could have dreamed of”(p. 33). Additionally, the segregated school she attends was a “one room rotten wood building.” (p. 14), but Essie Mae manages to get straight A’s while caring for her younger sibli...
The story begins with Jodee’s description of how she was victimized in a 4th grade Catholic grammar school; coming to the defense of deaf children that were being treated cruelly. She supplied the school officials with names and was labeled a “tattletale.” No one would talk to her, recess was spent in anguish, and she would find garbage and spoiled food in her book bag. As she progressed into 5th grade some of the social atmosphere began to shift in subtle but profound ways. Being accepted into a clique was all that mattered. Instead of being admired for class participation, as in earlier years she was laughed at and labeled as “teacher’s pet.” She said the rules were simple “shun or be shunned—if you weren’t willing to go along with the crowd, you would become the reject.”
Rodriguez was forced to leave that comfort and safety every morning though once he began attending school. The author describes hearing the cold, harsh sounds of the English language and wishing that... ... middle of paper ... ... ory and viewpoints, allowing the reader to make his or her own personal judgment regarding the issue.
The Norton Anthology of AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE is filled with many awe inspiring writings that reveal the true literacy history of the African American struggle with their identification. Gwendolyn Brooks brought her own life experiences to paper, and showed the man different ways one can create their own identification through lives many difficult challenges. Gwendolyn Brooks made the purpose of her work clear, she wanted to give a voice to people who had no voice; to let all different types of black people feel united as one under one voice. In her writing of the Kitchenette Building Gwendolyn expressed her feelings of the small cramped apartment that was known to be overbearing which resulted in crushed dreams, and hopes. In the mother Gwendolyn Brooks takes a great political issue head on; she gives a unique perspective, giving a first person point of view that seems to be confusing by showing her pain through guilt and blame. The final writing of a song in the front yard, gives the audience an experience almost everyone can relate to; the struggle of a girl who was only allowed to play in the front yard eventually gets curious and wants to see what’s going on in the back alley. Through these different life experiences of the tough living situation in a kitchenette, the intense battle one has when going through an abortion in the mother, and the battle one has with herself when trying to not be jealous of others. A person creates their own unique identity once they have come out of their own struggle; they enter into the situation as a girl and come out a woman.
She sacrificed almost all her personal pleasure for studying, but she did not see the point why she should make such sacrifice since she found the class reading as well as essays hardly arouse her interests. As she finally laid her eye on the bookshelf, seeing all the certificates and awards she had earned, Jennifer suddenly thought of what her father had told her, “school always comes first”. Tiredly and aimlessly, Jennifer signed and looked at a picture of her father. Slowly closing her eyes, she temporarily forgot about all the things like a tough life and overwhelming schoolwork which could make her stressful, and let her beautiful childhood memories of balloons, carousels and her father’s smiling face come into
Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, written in 1984, and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, first published in 1970, are both aimed at adolescent audiences but deal with deep, often disturbing themes about serious social conditions and their effects on children. Both books are told in the first person; both narrators are young girls, living in destitute neighborhoods, who witness the harsh realities of life for those who are poor, abused, and hopeless, although the narrators themselves manage to survive their tough environments with their wits and strength intact. The books are more than simple literary exercises written merely to amuse or delight their audiences.
The unpolished floors and graffitied lockers with pictures of the Beatles glued to them indicated to me that no summer cleaning had been done at school, for what seemed like several years. As I walked, a neatly folded piece of paper, which I placed in my pocket earlier this morning, grazed my outer thigh was not letting me forget its purpose. My palms were sweaty and all I could think of was that on the first day of school, I had decided to tell my crush that I liked her. What a stupid decision. I decided to wash my hands and then put my plan into action. My walk across the hallway continued till I reached the guy’s bathrooms. Just as I was about to push the door, it opened and out ran a blonde and petite girl. My crush. Her face was surprised and her hazel eyes were
This story takes place in a New York City school in Manhattan, in the nineteen- sixties. The book covers the span of one school semester form September to February.
Helen’s early life was very much shaped by her loss and abandonment. The greatest loss Helen experienced was the death of her parents. As she was orphaned by the age of six, it left her with great grief, darkened childhood memories and bewilderment of where she truly belonged. She eventually found her position as a labourer in her uncle’s house. After working on her uncle’s farm for two years and being denied an opportunity for education, she faced the most significant abandonment in her life: being turned
Seven thirty in the morning, confused, and gazing at my first experience of college I had no idea what this semester would have in store for me. Within the second story of Vawter Hall about fifty to a hundred students are crowding the hall awaiting the arrival of their professors. I was no different; unlike these other chatty energetic individuals I was alone, and desperate to get this first day over with. At eight o’clock bells chime through the building and the students have now dwindled down to those who I will later come to know as classmates and those few who had overslept on the first day. Eight fifteen, the little crowd starts to stir; the professor has still yet to arrive. Around eight twenty a woman with short cut hair arrives in a hurried manner, clearly upset to have arrived after her students. However, to her surprise, and those of her students, the door was
It was finally the first day of school; I was excited yet nervous. I hoped I would be able to make new friends. The first time I saw the schools name I thought it was the strangest name I’ve ever heard or read, therefore I found it hard to pronounce it in the beginning. The schools’ floors had painted black paw prints, which stood out on the white tiled floor. Once you walk through the doors the office is to the right. The office seemed a bit cramped, since it had so many rooms in such a small area. In the office I meet with a really nice, sweet secretary who helped me register into the school, giving me a small tour of the school, also helping me find
It was a gloomy Tuesday despite the fact that it was late August. I had missed the first day of school because I always hated the idea of introductions and forced social situations during those times. I hated my particular school ever since I started as a freshman the