Short Story The Jacket By Gary Soto
Theme 1.1: Envy. In Knowles’s coming of age book, “A Separate Peace”, there are lots of mishaps that happen and the beginning of these mishaps is when one of his main characters, Gene, starts thinking malicious things about Phineas, his friend. It started out as a small inkling of envy, suddenly later on in the book, it turned into something that resembled a fractious disaster. As the chapters progress, Gene shows the readers his way of thinking towards Phineas, by describing his “unexpected excitement” (27) when Phineas was about to receive a scolding from Mr. Patch-Wither, the substitute headmaster of Devon during the summer session. Surprisingly, when Phineas (aka Finny) further explained why he wore the school tie as a belt,
Racial tensions in Los Angeles came into the public eye when a gang of sailors beat up a group of Mexican-Americans wearing “zoot suits” in June of 1943. This led to the mass incarceration of these individuals known as “pachucos”. This initial incident was followed by days of violence in which servicemen roamed the Los Angeles area and physically assaulted any Mexican American they found in zoot suit apparel. The following two nights, the attacks progressed and though a few sailors were arrested while others were warned not to proceed in further assaults, word of the rioting spread and more military personnel from other areas of the city joined in as well. These events were preceded by increased racial tension between Mexican-Americans and Anglo Saxons.
The three stories to be discussed in this essay are “The Bouquet” by Charles W. Chesnutt, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “Gimpel the Fool” by Isaac Bashevis Singer. It’s interesting to dissect these pieces of literature to see how they reflect the time period they were written in, by whom they were written, and if the stories they read have any abnormalities outside what is expected. So first up is “The Bouquet”; I sympathized mainly for the young girl named Sophie. Society’s faults stunted her growth as an individual, and kept her from bonding with those she desired relations.
“Wolf Man” by Ashleigh Young and “The Empathy Exams” by Leslie Jamison share the similarities; they both are narrated through the past infiltrated in the present moment of narration which reflect the act of comparison and consolation. To talk about comparison, it means that the narrators in the story compare their lives to people’s lives, and the process of comparing is the tool to come up with the point of writing which the reader can grasp throughout the story. In the beginning of the story, the narrator in “Wolf Man” starts with the event when the narrator’s parents come to see her; her father talks about her ‘hair’ (moustache) right off the bat without anything to offend her, but he stirs her memory in the past of being bullied and (maybe) being judged by others
“Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurtson exemplifies the amount of disrespect and domestic abuse a woman can handle. It also demonstrated how some males view women in a distasteful and unsatisfied way. Gender and sexuality can initiate most of the specific tactics of domestic violence that can dehumanize an individual, especially women. Zora Neale Hurtson’s character, Delia Jones, demonstrates how women can transition from being inferior to becoming superior in a domestic relationship. The story opened with Delia washing clothes for white people on Sunday, and Sykes verbally abused her for dishonoring God because she was washing clothes that belong to white people on the Sabbath day.
Maturity is the feeling of needing to prove that one is sophisticated and old enough to do certain things. In the short story “Growing Up,” Maria’s family went on a vacation while she stayed at home, but when she heard there was a car crash that happened near where her family was staying, she gets worried and thinks it is all her fault for trying to act mature and angering her father. Society wants to prove how mature they are and they do so by trying to do things that older people do and the symbols, conflict, and metaphors in the text support this theme. First and foremost, in “Growing Up,” Gary Soto’s theme is how society acts older than they are and that they just want to prove they are mature. Maria wants to stay home instead of going
The scene then changes to the narrator’s childhood, a lonely one at it. “I lay on the bed and lost myself in stories,” he says, “I liked that. Books were safer than other people anyway.” The main narrative starts as he recalls a
In Gary Soto’s short story “The Jacket” the main character, the boy in the jacket, vows “ I spent my sixth-grade year in a tree in the alley, waiting for something good to happen to me in that jacket, which had become the ugly brother who tagged along wherever I went.” The boy blames his jacket for all the struggles that happened to him and he believes that the jacket brought him bad luck. Soto uses this to support the theme because the boy is being distracted by the jacket. Which makes him not try to improve his life.
I can close my eyes and form my sister’s face behind my eyelids, but not my parents’ faces. Where their eyes should meet mine, nothing (128).” This paper will explain how a toucan, a baby, and some thin ice all come together to dramatize the theme of the effect of social isolation. One of the recurring symbols in “I’m a Mad Dog Biting Myself for Sympathy” is the toucan. The narrator is currently about to purchase a, “huge stuffed part with purple wings and a yellow beak.
Elementary school is a big step, especially getting ready for middle school. For example if one is bitter towards someone, meaning jealous or angry, then their middle school years won’t go very well. They will go through being angry and it will make them focus on less important stuff rather than their studies or sports. Similar to the boy in “The Jacket” by “Gary Soto,”he goes through his life being jealous of kids that are happy or have good relationships and new clothes. The boy does not like the jacket his mother got him and does not appreciate it enough, even though it gets the job done.
The main character has it implanted in his mind that he’s the talk of the school, of students, and teachers, and is tricking his emotions into making him feel bad because he knows the clothes he wears are bad. The author, Soto however, tries to explain that it is merely the boys thoughts of how much he hates the jacket that are messing with his mind. Soto says, “Although they didn’t say out loud, “Man, that’s ugly,” I heard the buzz-buzz of gossip, and even laughter that I knew was meant for me.” Soto is saying that the main character’s own thoughts are the main enemy that drives the main action in the story. Because of his thoughts, and his embarrassment, he becomes the reason his grades drop, the reason his friends abandon him.
But most of the story is a form of symbolism. This story gives the reader a look at what it feels like to be lonely. In this world it’s seems hard, cold, and alone. The world seems dead. But many people in our world would say it’s not that different then the one Ray Bradbury wrote about.
The theme of the story is about the happiness in life so many people have numbed themselves to or feel as though they are forbidden to feel. Through the surprise and ironic death of the protagonist, Oates shows how easily that joy and happiness can disappear or be ripped away. The setting and theme of this story relates to our current society and how individuals within society feel entitled to extreme privacy and personal space and are unable to cope with stress, anxiety and the struggles of everyday life. Oates also depicts and how an invasion of this could trigger irrational reactions to something as small as a
Marta Salinas’ realistic fiction story “The scholarship Jacket”, takes place at a small school in Texas. Martha, a straight A plus student, was finally in 8th grade, her year to receive the valedictorian jacket. There are many troubles leading up to Martha receiving the jacket, such as the teachers changing the policy to make her pay $15. This changed the meaning of the jacket because it was no longer a reward. Marta Salinas created the theme that hard work pays off, she displays this theme by showing how Martha feels with point of view, and foreshadowing.
P is for Poncho We got our oldest dog Poncho a really long time ago. We went to someone’s house that breeds Chihuahuas. There was so many dogs to pick. We saw a small one hiding under a desk. He was very nice and calm.
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