Ronin Lyle Mrs. Miller English 5th period 27 September 2024. Literary Essay: “Scholarship Jacket” In the realistic fiction short story, “The Scholarship Jacket,” by Marta Salinas, the author shows why it is important to include everyone. In the beginning, Martha is fantasizing about getting the scholarship jacket. She thinks she can win it and in the story it says that her older sister, Rosie, won it. In the middle, the principal says that Martha has to pay for the jacket for the first time, knowing that she and her family are poor. Some of her teachers want to rig it so Martha can not win the scholarship jacket just because she is Mexican. In the end, she does not have to pay for the jacket and the teachers realize their mistake and she ends up winning the scholarship jacket. They include Martha and she wins the fair and square jacket. In this short story, Salinas uses figurative language and irony to convey the theme of …show more content…
The reader is introduced to the school, not including everyone in the story, when the teachers are arguing and Martha is listening to them. In the story it says “the pound in my ear drowned out the rest of the words, only a word here and there filtered through ‘Martha is Mexican. resign. won't do it.’ “(Pg:108) In Martha’s thoughts readers can see that the teachers are arguing about why she should or should not get the scholarship jacket. It can be inferred that the teachers do not want her to win the jacket since she is Mexican as well as wanting to reward the board members daughter. The teachers realize that it is not fair to not include Martha just because she is Mexican. The author used a hyperbole to exaggerate how mad and disappointed she was after hearing the teachers argue about her knowing she should win. The use of figurative language and adding it in that certain spot helped the reader understand that the teachers were not trying to give Martha a