Coming Of Age Analysis

Interpretation of the Coming of Age Process When I debate public forum style, I have to be quick on my feet and make split-second decisions. If I impulsively blurt out a wrong or inconsistent fact, I can lose the entire round based off that statement alone. If I lose focus even for a second and am not present in that moment, I can hurt not only myself, but also my partner since we debate as a team. On the other hand, if I make the right decisions and have razor-like precision with my arguments and refutations, my partner and I will likely achieve victory. My debate journey, in a real sense, mirrors my path to coming of age. I began debate in sixth grade as a shy, awkward eleven year old. The huge volume of research and the thought of speaking

Before I read Sandra Cisneros’ collection of vignettes, I didn’t know what the phrase meant. I used to think that it was marked by some sort of strange ceremony. I never thought these that three short words could have such deep meaning: maturity, pride, and spiritual connection. For instance, when Esperanza, the main character, and her friends are talking about the new hips that they notice on their bodies as they are growing up in the vignette “Hips,” she calls out to her little sister “Nenny [...] but she doesn’t hear [Esperanza]. She is too many light-years away. She is in a world [they] don’t belong to anymore” (Cisneros 52). Esperanza says that Nenny is “too many light-years away” because she is not interested in their conversation about hips. Not only does this show that the girls are maturing at a much faster rate than Nenny, but it also shows the separation between innocent children and developing women. The mere fact that Nenny is “light-years away” in a “world [they] don’t belong to anymore” implies that the gap in maturity isolated her from the older girls who have come of age. When I first read this passage I completely missed its significance because my skill as a reader in terms of reading between the lines was nowhere near as good as it is today. It wasn’t until our class discussed this vignette that I realized Cisneros’ writings shed light on the path to maturity. Specifically,

Their choices directly harm themselves and those around them to the point where wise characters question their decisions. For instance, Friar Lawrence asks Romeo, after he kills Tybalt to avenge his friend Mercutio, “wilt thou slay thyself, And slay thy lady that in thy life lives, By doing damnèd hate upon thyself?” (Shakespeare 3.3.125-127). The Friar beckons Romeo not to “slay” himself, or commit suicide, because it will not only hurt himself, but it will also hurt his “lady that in” his “life lives,” Juliet. Because of Romeo’s immaturity, he does not realize his rash actions can also hurt the one he loves the most. The universe presents Romeo and Juliet with the opportunity to come of age, however they do not seize it and, as a direct result of their series of uninformed and careless decisions, kill themselves. Although this is an extreme example of rash action accelerating fate, Shakespeare provides a clear-cut argument that a mark of maturity is when you take time thinking about how your actions will affect yourself and those you care about. This notion is similar to thinking quickly during a debate round to avoid contradicting yourself and your position. Behaving impulsively and arguing ill-informed positions in debate will likely end in defeat, much like Romeo and Juliet’s immature and impetuous actions ending in their