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St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolf Analysis

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The stories have a major impact on my life in unexpected ways. When asked to consider what story affected me the most during my semester in Composition II, I would have to say Karen Russell’s “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves”. Like so many stories I read this semester, the first time I read the story my understanding of the message was completely different from the subsequent times. I believe a mark of a talented writer is for their stories to spur discussion. Russell describes various stages the wolf girls’ transition through during their stay at St. Lucy’s Home for Girls. I found in reading stages one, two and four they closely resemble my own transition in my college career. Karen Russell describes stage one of the transformations as the period of excitement for exploring a new environment. Each new class I sign up for brings with it enthusiasm of learning something new. I am provided a chance to not only learn a new subject but meet new classmates. Russell describes Sister Maria slapping a name tag on one of the girls with her name and then goes on to say, “The rest of the pack ran in a loose, uncertain circle, torn between our instinct to help her and our new fear. We sensed some subtler danger afoot, written in a language we didn’t understand” (np). This reminds me of each time I …show more content…

Russell explains stage four as, “As a more thorough understanding of the host culture is acquired, your student will begin to feel more comfortable in their new environment. Your students feel more at home, and their self-confidence grows. Everything begins to make sense” (np). This passage in the story connects with me the most. With each class I select and achieve an A in my self-confidence flourishes. I begin to understand how the basic information I learn can be applied not only to my job but in everyday life. For my future academic career I hold this stage very close to my heart and

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