Turning Points I’m sure you have had a life changing experience once in your life that was difficult to face. The idea of life changing experiences was showed in Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, Dragonwings by Laurence Yep, and Eleven By Sandra Cisneros. Brian, from Hatchet, Moon Shadow, from Dragonwings and Rachel from Eleven all faced life-changing experiences that had a direct impact on their lives. Brian faced loneliness and hunger when he was stranded on a deserted island. In the text, Brian thinks, "The father home of the mother home. He stopped thinking. It didn't matter. Either on to his dad or back to his mother”(pg. 5). In other words, Brian was thinking of the fact that despite his parents being divorced, they still love him, gives him hope that he might still be rescued. Loneliness impacted Brian's life due to the fact that he was the only one on the island, which is something he probably has never faced before.Also, …show more content…
The author states, "Today I wish I was one hundred and two, I'd have known what to say when Mrs.Price put the red sweater on my desk. I would have known how to tell her it wasn't mine..."(pg. 45). This sentence clearly shows that Rachel thinks that the with age comes the ability to handle situations such as the one she experienced. The fact that Rachel experienced growing older changed her life is because she realizes that just because she is older, does not mean that instantly gets the wisdom to handle difficult situations. Secondly, based on the author's words, "I wish I was invisible, but I'm not. I'm eleven and it's my birthday and I'm crying like I'm three in front of everybody"(pg. 47), she needed to take control of her emotions. Her experience had an impact on her life since Rachel was unable to handle her emotions, causing her to want her birthday to be far away. Turning eleven allowed Rachel To experience growing older, and having to charge her
Of course, Rachel being 11 years old, she does not have a broad mindset which is the cause of her simplistic phrases that include repetition that help reflect her true age. “Not mine, not mine, not mine” repeating that the “ugly sweater” was not hers but clearly not being understood, Rachel must repeat this phrase -only in her head- just like any child would when not being listened to. Not only does this phrase inform the reader of Rachel’s weakness to stand up for herself but also of how she is accustomed to not being listened which has her thinking that she must repeat herself. Finding comfort in not only burying her face but in the thought of “mama's cake” and “everybody singing happy birthday”, she demonstrates that she feels smaller physically and emotionally so she continues this saying in her head to get her through her moment of the “sick feeling”. After constant wishing of being “102”, or “invisible” Rachel finally decides that it is too late for “mamas cake, “candles, presents and everybody will sing happy birthday” because she no longer feels “ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, one” she no longer needs closure of her
The author’s use of Rachel’s perspective is important because it establishes a connection between the reader and the character. Noting that Rachel is eleven years old justifies her childish point of view that is expressed all throughout the piece. The entire story focuses around Rachel’s teacher trying to give Rachel back a sweater. Since Rachel’s considers the sweater ugly, she believes that she will be made of for it. For example, when Mrs. Price put the
Have you ever had a life changing moment? In the stories Hatchet, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and The Father of Chinese Aviation the main characters all experienced life changing events. In Hatchet, Brian survives a plane crash after the pilot dies of a heart attack. In Island of the Blue Dolphins, Karana is left to survive on her own when the rest of her tribe is killed. In The Father of Chinese Aviation, Feng Ru brings aviation to China. All of these characters encountered events that changed their lives forever.
Additionally, Sandra Cineros expresses Rachel not only as the main character of the story, but also the narrator. From one perspective, we know we can label her as a reliable narrator since what she says we can believe is true because she believes it herself. However, though she might not intent on deceiving us, readers might consider her unreliable because of her age and how she might over or under express her experience. Moreover, she has a limited range to what she can relate her feelings too which communicates her narrow point of view. “…like my wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one. That’s how being eleven years old is” (36). Rachel compares her age to her wooden dolls which illustrates her eleven year old mindset; therefore, she attains a limited and unreliable point of view. Overall, Rachel’s reliability and unreliability as a narrator shapes the story as a whole because readers now understand her emotional delicacy brought upon by her age which changes how readers perceive her thoughts and feelings. In the end, as first person persistently appears throughout the story “Eleven,” readers acquire a more profound and insightful understanding of Rachel’s emotions and thoughts and the powerful effect those feelings convey on the
In “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros actually touched me because I understand where the main character is coming from. Wishing you could be older because of the situation you’re in nobody believes you and you can’t do anything about it because they are older than you and have more authority over you. Then when you were right in the situation they don’t want to own up to their mistakes. We can tell this because of the quote, “I take it off right away and give it to her, only Mrs. Price pretends like everything’s okay.” The fact that the day was her birthday really makes it worse because who would want to spend their day being yelled at by their teacher and being humiliated in front of the class for something they were right about the whole time. It’s quite sad really and you wonder why the teacher didn’t believe her, like i'm pretty sure she know’s if that was her sweater or not
When someone tells you they have experienced something "life changing" what lingers through your mind? Mine is November 10, 2010 12:04pm; This was the first 24 hour period when my mother’s ability to act single-handedly on her health became theoretical; Failing to recall whether she took her pills in the morning was no longer acceptable. My mother had undergone a surgery due to various cancerous cells that grew in both her thyroids. Having removed the right and left side, doctors informed her after this procedure she must consume two white pills everyday, for the rest of her life. The purpose of these pills
Loneliness is the sadness resulting from being isolated or abandoned. Being lonely is almost always directly connected to relations between people, or the lack there of. Mother Teresa once said “Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” In John Steinbecks classic novel, Of Mice And Men, the three characters, Crooks, Curley’s wife and Candy struggle with loneliness in different forms because of characteristics that they can’t control. All three characters deal with their loneliness by searching for companionship with others on the ranch and this works out differently for each of them.
A person does not experience many events that shape their life in a large way, whether it be for better or worse. I have had just one major situation that has sculpted me into the person that I am today. In February of 2008, I was diagnosed with a life changing disease; it would relieve me of the agony I had been experiencing for as long as I could remember, but also restrict my diet for the rest of my life.
Rachel does not turn for direction in her soul, but turns to her body instead, leaving her to be egocentric. If something doesn’t interest Rachel, it doesn’t matter to her. For example, when Ruth May died, the rest of the family handled the death badly, compared to Rachel, who seemed upset only because she wouldn’t be able to forget the Congo, and will continue to have memories of it. This is ironic, considering that Rachel does not show any interest in the Congo, but now she will have to have it haunt her for the rest of her
Brian’s life is already very hard, as he lives with his mother, a single woman, far away from his father. Brian’s parents are going through a very bitter divorce, which pulls Brian between both parents (Saurino). The pilot of the airplane suffers a heart attack, and Brian must make a difficult decision (Sutherland). He must decide whether to land the plane early, to avoid flying too far away from help, or to keep the plane flying and use the pilots radio to call for help. Eventually, Brian decides to land the plane in the Canadian wilderness.
Immigrants' lives become very difficult when they move to a new country. They are often discriminated against due to their race and/ or nationality. This problem occurs many times throughout Dragonwings, a book by Laurence Yep. In his book, the Chinese characters who immigrate to America face many challenges in their new lives. They are thought of as inferior, have to endure many hardships, and become lonely due to the fact that they must leave the majority of their families in China. In this book, the immigrants face multiple difficulties and challenges in the new world they know as the Land of the Golden Mountain.
Have you experienced depression, anxiety, loss, crisis, or traumatic events, such as divorce or death, in your life or in the life of your family? Briefly describe this event(s). How did you cope with it? What effect(s) did it have on you and/or your family? How has this event(s) changed your life? From our readings in this dimension, what would Parker Palmer say is the value of these experiences?
Everyone has had that one moment, or maybe a couple. The moment when their life changes forever, the moments when they know they will never be the same person they were yesterday. These moments are turning points that play a large role in a person’s identity.
Have you ever been in a life-changing accident? Have you ever contracted a life-threatening virus? Have you ever experienced something that changed your life forever? Bouncing back from any of these experiences can be very difficult. One has to push forward and use positive thinking to be able to overcome such life-changing experiences. One must build resilience. Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress — such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems or workplace and financial stressors (apa.org). It means "bouncing back" from difficult experiences (apa.org). Having a life-changing experience should not stop one from living his/her life. One should always keep moving forward no matter how difficult it may seem. One should also try to be more optimistic by looking at the bright side of things.
An Event which changed my life, well when, I think back on my life there’s