Eleven By Sandra Cisneros

My book is called A Child Called “It” by Dave Pelzer. It has 182 pages, all of which are full of sadness. The genre is an autobiography of Dave Pelzer’s abusive childhood. My book is a terrifying story of a mother who used to be loving, but became abusive because of alcohol. She took out her anger on Dave, her youngest son. Dave’s father was his Superman. He relied on his father to sneak him small bits of food when he was starved, and to talk to him when he was lonely. But when his father left his mother because of her insanity, Dave had no one. He started to rely on school to get food. He would steal from other kids’ lunchboxes during recess. This would result in more beatings from Mother. I decided to read this book because my mom told me about it a long time ago. It seemed like an interesting book. A Child Called “It” was published by the Omaha Press in 1993.

The best character to start with is Rachel, from Eleven by Sandra Cisnero. One of the character traits I believe she possesses is that she’s sensitive. For example, in the story it states that she started to cry in front of the class on page 235. I’m pretty sensitive, but even if everyone’s eyes is on me I probably would have at least held it in. In the story it also says: “...all of a sudden I’m feeling sick inside, like the part of me that’s three wants to come out of my eyes…” (“...” means that there is text or writing before or after the phrase). This shows that even if the teacher didn’t yell at her, she still was about to cry, which is what a sensitive person would probably do. Rachel was a good start, but we still have two more characters to discuss!

Although both Antigone, from “Antigone” by Sophocles, and Martin Luther King Jr. from “Letter From A Birmingham Jail” engage in acts of civil disobedience and fight for what they believe to be right, the way they go about these acts is quite different. Each of their reasons, actions, and consequences can be seen as opposites. Antigone refuses the help or involvement of others, which can be seen as a selfish act directly against the king while Martin Luther King Jr. involves the entire community to help the greater good.

Everyone has a birthday, that’s the way it is. Some might not know when theirs is, but they have one. Every year on the same day, you turn a new age, but don’t you still feel like you’re still that previous age? That is how Rachel feels in the short story “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros. Cisneros uses figurative language, repetition and imagery to characterize Rachel as a young child who wishes to grow up and be stronger.

Keeping a secret for a whole school year would be a challenge. One may find that the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson explores the challenges of keeping a secret. The story is about a girl, Melinda Sordino, who gets raped over the summer at a party and is helpless. That year at school all of her best friends are now her ex-friends because they didn’t know what happened. She doesn’t tell anyone about this terrifying memory until the end of the year. Then everything changes. The characters, setting and theme makes this a very compelling story.

In the story “Eleven”, Cisneros explains how a girl named Rachel turns eleven years old, yet she does not feel like she is eleven. Later on, she has a disagreement with her teacher and she wishes she was older so she could defend herself. Confidence may be gained as people mature, but it might not be as fast as it’s desired.

The author then goes into a story about Rachel on her birthday in class, and a red sweater.

Sandra Cisneros does an excellent job at using literary devices to characterize Rachel in “Eleven”. By using imagery, simile, and tone we can see that Rachel is a empathetic, bashful, wise, but still naive in her own ways. She is still only eleven and has a lot learn over her upcoming

powerful message about growing up from the perspective of an eleven year old. The story starts out with Rachel, the protagonist, who is turning eleven today. It starts out with her at school while she's in math class. The teacher, Ms. Price picks up a sweater and asks the class if anyone is missing a sweater. A student says that it's Rachel's, and the teacher gives her the sweater without even thinking. Rachel thinks and speaks in a way that is very reminiscent of an eleven year old. There is a youthful, innocent tone in her voice, especially when she says “I wish I was one hundred and two instead of eleven” without actually thinking about the disadvantages of being that age. Throughout the day, she references home and how she longs to go home to celebrate with her family and eat cake. The style may seem very childish from the surface, but it is able to illustrate the theme of change and being stuck in between the innocence of childhood and the wiseness of adulthood in a very beautiful and poignant way.

As reflected in the readings of Reading Popular Culture: An Anthology for Writers 3rd Edition, present-day advertisements expand far beyond the endorsement of a product. While the initial intent for various corporations surround the operation of selling and marketing products, many companies also find success in promoting masked messages. According to Jean Kilbourne in her article pertaining to the study of advertisement, she reveals the underlying tactics of commercialized business. As stated in the article “’In Your Face…All Over the Place’: Advertising Is Our Environment”, Kilbourne states “advertising often sells a great deal more than products. It sells values, images, and concepts of love and sexuality, romance, success, and perhaps most important, normalcy (101).” The most recent trend of cultural normalcy: the distaste for natural aging.

Everyone has depression, but did you know on October 29, 1929 the whole US went into depression. People lost their jobs, people lost their homes and lot’s of other things. Every bits and piece was super valuable at that time.

In a person’s childhood, most of their major decisions that they are faced with in life are made by their parents or guardians. Parents make the decisions for them because they want the best for their children, and want them to have a good chance to survive in the real world when they reach adulthood. After childhood however, they must make decisions for themselves, which will eventually lead them towards their dreams or the life their parents were afraid of. In the book The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore, the decisions that were made for the author Wes Moore, led him away from living the life of a criminal, to living the life of a very successful man. In his life, Wes’s mom (Joy) made most of the important decisions that led him to success.

All But My Life, by Gerda Weissmann Klein, is an absolutely amazing autobiography. Gerda tells about her childhood and how she grows into an adult in many German labor camps. Gerda’s home town has been taken over by the Germans during the holocaust. Her wealthy jewish family is forced to live like slaves until they are separated and moved to different German camps. Gerda tells her story like the reader is there with her. Gerda makes and loses many friends and finds her true love. All but my Life will make you laugh and cry. This book is best for anyone over the age of 11. All But My Life is a terrific page turner.

The story The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez and the immigration photo by Jose Hernandez Clare are two things that i am comparing. The common subject that is portrayed in these stories/Photographs is family separation. The Red Umbrella and The Immigration photo both have thing in common, they both also have their own unique thing about them.

On September 11, 2001, tragedy struck the city of New York. On that fateful day, two airplanes were hijacked by terrorists and flew straight into the twin towers. Each tower fell completely to the ground, taking thousands of lives with it and injuring thousands more. Not only did that day leave thousands of families without their loved ones, it also left an entire city and an entire country to deal with the aftermath of the destruction. Poet, Nancy Mercado, worries that one day people will forget that heartbreaking day. Though there is little danger of forgetting that heartbreaking day, she worries that even she will still forget. She expresses these worries while writing her poem “Going to Work”. She does this by using three poetic devices within her poem: personification, imagery, and symbolism.