Name: Estella #28 March 15, 2023 Theme-Based Literary Essay Sometimes in life, you work hard for something you want while not realizing it because it is such a big passion of yours. In the story “Stray” by Cynthia Rylant, Doris tries very hard to convince her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lacey, to keep the dog. In my essay, I will demonstrate how Doris is trying to convince her parents to keep the pup. She shows this by three reasons: helping the dog, trying to convince her parents to adopt it, and accepting the responsibilities that come with adoption. As the story “Stray”, by Cynthia Rylant progresses, in many scenes we see Doris helping the stray often even though she knows she cannot adopt the dog because Mr. Lacey doesn’t earn enough money …show more content…
Some text evidence that Cynthia Rylant used is : “Still, she tried talking to them at dinner one night. “She’s a good dog, isn’t she?” Doris said, hoping one of them would agree with her.” The author also wrote some of Doris’ dialogue as “She’s not much trouble,'' Doris added. “I like her.” She smiled at them, but they continued to ignore her.” Even more evidence of Doris talking to her parents is when she refers to the dog as smart and that she could teach the dog something, which also makes me come to the conclusion Doris believes the dog has great potential to achieve things. Doris says: “I figure she’s real smart,” Doris said to her mother. ““I could teach her things.””. Doris is trying to assist the cur ( A dog that is in poor condition ) in these lines of text, and even though she knows she will not be able to adopt the stray which in those lines, she knows she doesn’t have a good chance of convincing her parents to adopt the stray dog, she still wants to help the pup have it’s best life …show more content…
One time, Doris tries to talk to her family about the dog one night. When she does, she says “I figure she’s smart, and I could teach her things.” and “She’s not much work. I like her.”. Her parents don’t give any reaction, much to Doris’s dismay, showing us that Doris’s parents don’t feel adopting the dog is a good idea. In earlier text, it hinted that Mr. Lacey almost didn’t earn enough money to support his family, so the Laceys thought that it wouldn’t be a good idea to adopt a lost puppy, which discourages