The struggles of teenagers and young children currently in school are displayed in the story “Eleven.” This problem is so prevalent because of the fixed age difference between students and teachers. Some students may feel like they have no authority or say in a classroom when arguing with their teacher. Sandra Cisneros describes in her writing the feeling of being out-of-place and shy. This relates to many kids today, even myself. When discussed after reading this as a class, we all felt sympathy for the girl and understood where she was coming from. Fixing this issue is something that simply cannot be done. Age difference will always be a fixed factor and will not change anything. However, the attitude coming from a student and a teacher …show more content…
However, kids do not just give up like this. Their minds don’t work that way. Rachel wanted to put up a fight but never thought ahead of the consequences. She never expected to cry in front of the whole class, especially on her birthday! Maturity is a cure to this issue, but at age eleven not many are that mature. The other kids in the class were quite a factor as well. Although it was not clearly stated, they created a great reason for Rachel to deal with this trauma. To start off with, Sylvia Saldivar was the one who originally pointed out the sweater to be Rachel’s. When in reality it wasn’t, and Rachel knew this and Sylvia probably did too but was expecting an entertaining reaction out of Rachel with the teacher. This was never stated either, but Sylvia was a troublemaker since the start! She was hoping for this scenario to occur. Kids and teens all over the world will deal with this issue. Teachers are simply too old to relate to us, and we are simply too old to relate to them. Entirely, at least. Some teachers, young and old, do understand where we’re coming from. They recognize the problems we’re dealing with and understand how we feel because they went through it too. Although it’s not common for teachers and students to connect on certain things, it does
Lucille Ruby [ source 3] states young children need guidance, support, and stability. Ruby says that Donna Snyder prof develope that younger students can bond with their teacher by staying in one class all day. Given this point students who do not bond with their teacher will not succeed as well or feel safe in their environment.
Have you ever looked back on something you did as a kid, or the past in general and regretted something you did or should have done but didn’t do it? Well The author Sandra Cisneros captures that feeling well in eleven by using stylistic techniques such as characterization, personification, and imagery to sound like a young child. The character Rachel is a personified avatar of Sandra's emotions.
The inner battle continues through use of similes and syntax patterns. Cisneros brilliantly weaves a series of vivid metaphors that of an eleven year old to further portray Rachel’s character. “Today I wish I didn’t have only eleven years rattling inside me like pennies in a tin band-aid box.” This simile characterizes Rachel as not only a child but also portrays her desire to be older. The image evokes a childish habit of collecting pennies in a tin-box, a juvenile form of a most precious piggy bank. But in addition to labeling Rachel’s age, it also hints at her feelings of wanting out. Rachel feels trapped by her ripe young age of eleven because she feels as if she doesn’t have the years behind her to justify her non-acceptance of the sweater. Afraid to say no and stand up for herself, Rachel unwillingly has to take the sweater, which “smells like cottage cheese” and hangs over the edge of her desk “like a waterfall.” Again, we see glances into Rachel’s mind and how she envisions the dreadful sweater. The images allow us to see into an eleven year old’s thoughts and see how the situation looks from a child’s eyes. Telling it like it is, as Rachel seems to do quite often, she describes the smell as cottage cheese, a
Rachel is first introduced into the play at the very beginning where we see she has gone to the jail to visit her boyfriend Bert Cates. Rachel is very desperate to try and get Bert to just throw himself at the mercy of the court and admit that what he did was wrong. She just wants to be with him. As she enters the jail she speaks to Meeker saying “Mr Meeker, don’t let my father know I came here”, This quote portrays Rachel’s character very well. She is shy and lacks confidence, obviously worried of what would happen if her father found out she was visiting Cates, the enemy to her father at this point. She has lived her life in fear of her father and because of she followed everything
Susan Griffin's "Our Secret" is a study in psychology. It is a look into the human mind to see what makes people do the things they do and in particular what makes people commit acts of violence. She isolates the first half of the twentieth century and in particular the era of the Second World War as a basis for her study. The essay discusses a number of people but they all tie in to Heinrich Himmler. He is the extreme case, he who can be linked directly to every single death in the concentration camps. Griffin seeks to examine Himmler because if she can discern a monster like Himmler than everyone else simply falls into place. The essay also tries to deduce why something like the Holocaust, although never mentioned directly, can
, she is giving the readers a way she knows how to describe her feelings. This shows her character because its her describing her feelings in a personal way. The point-of-view of the story helps to characterize Rachel. By the story being in Rachel’s point-of-view, the reader gets first person responses to events.
Thirteen Days, by Robert Kennedy, is a portrayal of the drama surrounding the Cuban missile crisis, and an analysis of the ordeal. There are two sides to this conflict which was played out in the post-World War II era. On one hand you have the Communists of the Soviet Union, whose desire to bring all of Europe under their heel would nearly spark a war that would annihilate the human race. On the other stands the Americans who wished the "vindication of right" and to prevent the further spread of Communism.
Finish with an agreed resolution or go back to step 1. Ask each person involved are they happy with how it has been sorted or do they think they need more time?
The first year, the time to prove myself had arrived. Classes, rooms, teachers, and some students were unfamiliar. Eventually, minutes melted into hours, hours to days, and days to weeks. It didn’t take long before my schedule was routine, something of second nature. Humor and happiness were found in the form of my advisory family, where school was transformed into something more than going through the same motions of day to day activity. By the closing point of sixth grade, I was having a hard time letting go of what I’d adapted to. “What’s wrong?” my dad asked when I was getting into the car after being picked up early on the last day. I explained how distressed I was that my first year of middle school exceeded my expectations, and that it had to come to an end. Although his outlook viewed my reason for sorrow as trivial, I didn’t.
Price, holds up a ragged red sweater and asks for its owner. Everyone denies the sweater belongs to them, and Sylvia Saldivar says it is Rachel's. Rachel's reaction to the red sweater conflict differs through the story. Rachel responds in three sentence fragments: the first time, “That's not, I don't, you're not…Not mine.” The second time, Mrs. Price asks Rachel to wear the sweater, she responds in a single sentence fragment: “But it's not--.” The third time, she cries: “crying like I'm three in front of everybody.” Her voice disappears: “I can't stop the little animal noises from coming out of
In the past, we have seen numerous cases of teachers having more than professional relationships with students in the past. Whether or not the student is okay with this kind of involvement with older teachers, it is completely inappropriate and is something that needs to be
Two little girls with matching pink dresses, light up shoes, backpacks double their size skip off to the bus for their very first day of school. To a five year old, kindergarten was a big deal. The first time away from their parents, a new environment, and very intimidating older kids. I knew I was lucky, I got to take on this new experience with my built-in best friend and somehow, knowing that made all the difference.
She begins by asking teachers to exam their own biases before starting the conversation and then allowing the students to be “in front of what they are feeling rather than reacting to it”. This shows educators how to begin talking to the students, and motivates them to do so. Though some may object the true significance of speaking out about these topics, Pitts suggests that at any age, students will appreciate the “humility, compassion and vulnerability” of educators when they take responsibility of that role.
In the duration of this English class we have read multiple essays. The essays include a short story, “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros whose main idea is that there is not a correlation between age and emotional evolution. “College Pressures” by William Zinsser argues that college students are under excessive stress to plan their future and succeed. The narrative, “Mother Tongue”, by Amy Tan focuses on the variants in the universal English dialect which is based on one’s background. “Indian Education” by Sherman Alexies main purpose is to help readers understand the immense impact racism has on Native Americans. Each story had a different purpose but the common theme the essays shared was an educational setting.
In the short story, “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros, a young child named Rachel experienced her eleventh birthday in a classroom. As the story progresses there is a change in the tone- from nonchalant to sadness to anger. Cisneros uses various forms of figurative language throughout “Eleven”, such as repetition, metaphors and similes, and symbolism.