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Coming To Age In Gordon Korman's Thank You, Ma Am

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People go through changes, it comes with age or experiences, but either way it happens. In Gordon Korman’s The Juvie Three, three young criminals are given a second chance and put in a halfway house, and their leader falls of a fire escape a losses his memory. The boys went through changes especially after their leaders incident. “Thank You, Ma’am,” is a short story written by Langston Hughes, where a boy named Roger attempts to steal a purse from a woman named Mrs. Jones, and is caught. Roger didn’t have much, so instead of taking him to the police, Mrs. Jones cares for him and teaches him to not be a criminal. Characters in the literary pieces, demonstrated the theme of coming to age, by the three juvenile delinquents learning lessons through …show more content…

Jones’ care and teachings. Roger wasn’t a very fortunate boy, he was an orphan that didn’t have much. Mrs. Jones figured this out, “‘You ought to be my son. I would teach you right from wrong,’” (Hughes 1). She decided to take him home and care for him, she let him wash his face, fed him a meal, and even gave him money for new shoes. She treated Roger as if he was her own child, she didn't take him to the police, she just taught him lessons. Mrs. Jones was a very qualified person to do this, “‘I were young once and I wanted things I could not get’...’You thought i was going to say, but I didn’t snatch people’s pocketbooks. Well I wasn’t,’” (Huges 2-3). Mrs. Jones was once like Roger, and she didn’t want him going down the same path, so she wanted to change him. When roger finally left Mrs. Jones house he was changed through Mrs. Jones sharing her experiences, and her lessons. The characters in my works, experienced the theme of coming of age, and changed. They learned from personal experiences, or others experiences or teachings shared with the characters. People can go through changes, or personally experience coming of age from many different things. People will always change through lessons, experiences, events, or just over time, but it will always happen. “You're always you, and that don't change, and you're always changing, and there's nothing you can do about it.” (Neil

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A central theme in the short story “Thank you Ma 'am” by Langston Hughes is a little kindness goes a long way. One act of kindness can change a person’s life forever. Her unnecessary kindness made a major impact on Roger and changes him. As the story progresses, we see that Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones shows empathy and kindness for Roger. That kindness appears to pass onto Roger near the end of the story.

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It is also, by forgiving Roger, that Mrs. Jones helps him open his eyes to the idea of choice. The combination of her sternness and compassion affects Roger tremendously. The text states, “ The boy wanted to say something else other than “Thank you, ma’am” to Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, but he couldn’t do so ..” (Hughes Pg.3) Instead of forgiving him, had Mrs. Jones handed him over to

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