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Francesca Block's Sixteen

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Megan Hemig Prof John Hess ENGWR 301 April 3 2024 Sixteen Essay Rough Draft. In the short poem ‘Sixteen’, by Francesca Block, we see the interaction and relationship between a 16 year old girl, and a slightly older young boy. When looking at the text, and events that happen in the midst of this young relationship, we see the sad and unloved truth of this couple's connection, and the immaturity of young love accompanied by the expectations teenage girls feel in relationships. The young girl who stars in this poem often compares herself and showcases the insecurity and shame caused by her unfaithful boyfriend's actions. Yet, the star of her life is her young boyfriend.At the beginning of the poem, this young couple goes to a party, and her boyfriend ogles at a pretty blonde girl. The main character says she …show more content…

She pushes her boyfriend's action to the side, and gives reason for it. She then ignores how her boyfriend went back inside the party to get the blonde girl's number. From this statement of “I know with a woman’s knowledge that he was going to try to get a phone number” it is revealed that this untrustworthy action made by the boyfriend is not unusual, and certainly not new to her. The girl even states that “he had photos of girls all over his desktop”, proving his lack of care towards his girlfriend. Not only was he unable to control himself in front of a pretty girl at a party, but he purposely put himself in a situation that disrespected his girlfriend by putting these pictures up. Block also reveals that this boy is older than the 16 year old girl, explaining “I was his younger virgin”. For this particular young man, he is both infatuated by the fact that she is younger than him, and a virgin. He doesn’t view her as an individual to learn things about or grow close with—he only sees her as an item to parade around.

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