“Charles is a short story by Shirley Jackson. It takes place at school in a kindergarten class. This story focuses on a boy named Charles. Charles doesn’t act too well in school. Then another classmate that goes to the same school with Charles is Laurie. Laurie, talks about Charles everyday to his parents. Laurie always comes home and talks about how rude he is. Laurie says things like “ charles was bad again.” Or “ Charles had to stay after school again”, as Laurie comes home late. In this short story, the author is trying to tell us to not judge people based on their attitudes.Also not to judge people from the stories you hear. Something that is important to realize, Charles comes to school everyday and he ends up acting up in class. Nobody knows why, he just does. Charles gets in trouble a lot. In fact, he hurts classmates, hits teachers, he also Inciting students to use a bad word. While this may be true, Laurie said “ he told a girl to say a bad word….teacher washed her mouth out with soap.” That being said, Charles wants other kids to get in trouble. Charles came to school one day and he was good for only that day. Everyone wanted Charles to be this way everyday but that wasn’t the case. But then he came back to school and Charles was back to being bad again. For example hitting and hurting people. As stated again, Laurie wants Charles to be in trouble. When Laurie is talking about these stories to his parents, his parents wants to go talk with Charles parents. Laurie’s parents talk to the teacher about Charles. Then, the teacher says “ there is no Charles.” Laurie’s parents were very confused. Everyone then realized it was Laurie who was causing all of the trouble. Laurie was just making up a kid named Charles. Even though there was no Charles, Laurie could’ve told her parents the truth before they talked to the teacher. In this short story, the author was showing us don’t lie, judge, or blame others. The author wants us to feel their emotions. In the short story “ Charles” there was no one named Charles and Laurie was just making it up. Don’t judge people based on their stories. You don’t always no the truth, or the background of the story.
¨Charles¨ is a short story written by Shirley Jackson that takes place at the main character Laurie’s school and house. The theme of this story is interesting because it all revolves around a fictional character named Charles who is in Laurie’s kindergarten class. The story focuses on a kindergartener named Laurie that comes home everyday after school to tell his parents what sort of trouble Charles got into. This makes Laurie’s parents automatically judge Charles based on the horrible things Laurie tells them. It seems like they never could imagine their own child acting like Charles. The author creates a scenario that teaches us to be careful when we judge others. When Laurie comes home everyday after school, Laurie’s parents are so anxious to hear what trouble Charles got into. They are concerned for their son’s well being at school and believe that Charles is a bad influence on Laurie. What they don’t realize is that Laurie is making up Charles to blame his own behaviors upon him. They are too focused on Laurie’s stories about Charles to really figure out what’s going on. They automatically assume Laurie isn’t a problem at school when he is. A prime example is when Laurie came home for school late one day and told his parents it was because Charles got into trouble. Not once did they question why Laurie had to stay after because of Laurie’s behavior. The author gave a hint to the reader to the resolution to the story. The parent’s concerns about Charles kept on growing. When Laurie continues to tell them what happened at school, they start to ridicule Charles. “The baby was being a Charles when she cried all afternoon.” In other words, Laurie’s mother is saying when a member in her family did something wrong or unnecessary, she’s saying they pulled a “Charles”. By putting all their attention towards Charles, it makes them blind to the real problem which is Laurie and his behavior. Although it could be argued that the theme is honestly, the text actually says Laurie’s parents have been judging Charles this whole time when it was their own child. The author used many literary elements in this short story to show the theme is judging. One of the elements he used in this story is an imagery; “I sat restlessly, scanning each comfortable matronly face,”. In this example, Laurie’s mother is saying all the other other moms at the PTA meeting looked too pleasant and interacting to be Charlie’s mom. Which means she is judging them, saying they don’t appear to be haggard or dreadful as the mother of Charles. Another literary element the author used was an idiom, “you must have your hands full in that kindergarten, with Charles”. Again, she seems to be judging, saying the teacher must have all of her attention towards Charles and dealing with his bad behavior. At the end of the story, Laurie’s mother finds out there is no Charles in the kindergarten class, leaving her to realize it was her own child that was acting this way. This shows the reader how she judged Charles this whole time, being dumbfounded to find out it was her own son to whom she was judging. It must have been very hard for her to learn this. Sometimes in life in order to learn a lesson you have to experience it yourself. You would hope that his parents would be more careful to whom they would judge in the future.
Charles is a short story by Shirley Jackson. The story is about a boy named Laurie who makes up fake stories about a kid in his kindergarten named Charles. Charles is a troublemaker and everyday Lourie comes home from school with a story about how bad Charles behaved. His parents always listened to the stories and were surprised at what Charles did that day. They think that Charles is a bad influence on Laurie and they start to judge Charles and his parents. In the end they find out that Laurie is actually Charles and they have been judging themselves. The theme of the story is don't rush to judge other people you don't know when you have your own problems to deal with.
For the first parent teacher meeting that Laurie's mom couldn't go to, she wanted to go just to find out about Charles and his mom so she could look and judge them. She didn't want to go to see how Laurie was doing just to look at Charles and his mom.
When Laurie tells his parents about Charles that could be interpreted as honesty, but Laurie parents are more interested in judging others than listening. They judge charles and his parents so much they don't realise Charles is their son Laurie. An example of this is when Laurie comes home from school the second day and he calls his dad dumb, but since he was telling the story of what Charles did that day they didn't pay attention.
The negative feelings that the parents have for Charles gets worse as time progresses. An example of this is when Laurie tells his parents that Charles was good for a week by passing out crayons and helping the teacher. Instead of thinking he changed they think he is plotting. If they would have looked past their judging they could have seen the signs that Laurie is Charles and they are only judging themselves.
The author also used figurative language to show theme. On the top of the third page Laurie announced that Charles was bigger than him and that he doesn't wear a jacket or rubbers (which when this story was made would have been like rebelling against society). He is implying that Charles is bigger and more important than him and that they should be paying more attention to Charles misbehaviors and not Lauries misbehaviours.
If Lauries parents wouldn't have payed attention to Charles so much they would have seen that Laurey is Charles and Laurey is doing all the bad stuff. Like in the beginning when Laurie was wearing blue jeans with a belt, forgot to wave goodbye to his mom, slammed the front door, threw his cap on the floor and spoke poorly to his dad. Once he told his mom and dad about Charles they didn't care anymore and started to ask Laurie what he looked like and what his last name is.
At the end once they went to the parent teacher meeting they figured out that Laurie is Charles. The parents have spent weeks judging and joking about Charles. But at the end when they realise that they have been making fun of themselves they are surprised. They have been judging Charles so much they were blind to all the signs that Laurie was Charles and instantly realise what they have been doing wrong and regret. That is where the story ended with the reader wondering what would happen to Laurie for his punishment and how poorly the parents felt.
“Charles” is a short story by Shirley Jackson that is about a kid in kindergarten that comes home from school every day and tells his parents about a kid named Charles. Charles did a lot of bad stuff, like he hit the teacher because he wanted to color with a green crayon and the teacher wanted him to color with a red crayon. The author uses this to teach us lessons that is about when you tell a lie throw someone you can get in more trouble.
When Laurie came home from the first day of kindergarten he told his parents about this kid named Charles and what he did. Laurie‘s family started to gosup about Charles and they wanted to meet charles parents.
Ever scenes the first day of kindergarten charles has been very bad he hit the teacher, made a kid bleed, he also made a kid say a bad word. When ever he does something bad he gets spanked.
Laurie tells his parents about charles and how he is fresh. It is a metaphorical because it means not previously known or used. When ever laurie’s family did something wrong they called it a charles. When someone would bump into someone they would say stop it charles. But what they should of been saying is stop is laurie.
In conclusion laurie and charles are the same person. All though it could be argued that the lesson is honesty the text is talking about how he lies about charles.
“Charles” is a short story written by shirley jackson, It about this little kid named laurie, who just started kindergarten. Laurie decides to make up a kid named Charles, and Charles mis behavior. Laurie would go home and tell his parents, they weren't too happy but they were glad it wasn’t their child. But after time his parents started to worry about this Charles kid, thinking Laurie might start acting like him. Soon parent teacher conferences come up, and Laurie's mother went in to talk to the teacher about Charles, but in the end they really find out the truth about Charles. My thoughts on why the author writes this, is to teach you that, by lying your getting yourself into more trouble, because that lie can get back to, but it won’t be good.
At first Laurie's parents, when they were hearing about this Charles kid, they believed Laurie. There were several stories about Charles behavior, some of them were amusing but others were just rude. “It was Charles” he said “he was fresh” Jackson wrote. They even starting using Charles as like an adjective.
Later on as Charles behavior was getting worse, laurie's parents we getting worried. They thought Charles was a bad influence on him, and they wanted to talk to the teacher about the Charles kid. But when Laurie's mother gets a chance to speak with the teacher, she had no idea who Charles was.
So after everything the parents are shocked, because they found out the truth about Charles, and it wasn't good. They found that Laurie was really Charles and that Laurie had been lying and doing all the bad things that he had said Charles did.
I think what Laurie did was not all bad, i think he was under the influence that it's cool or “fresh” as Jackson wrote, to act like that. I also think that Laurie thought that because he was starting kindergarten, that he needed to act different.
Overall “Charles” is a good short story , and teaches a good lesson. So if your about to make a big lie take a look back at what Laurie did, you might want to reconsider.
Charles, Literary Essay “ Charles” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. It takes place when Laurie is in kindergarten. The story is interesting because his parents don’t even realize that Laurie has been lying about his behavior and the kids on his class. The story really focused on what events and reactions of Laurie's parents.
First, Laurie starts kindergarten. There is a trouble maker named Charles in the class. Laurie would go home everyday and tell his parents about his day. He also told them about the things Charles would do in class. His parents started to laugh about Laurie’s stories of Charles. His parents were oblivious to the fact that Laurie was not being truthful. His parents didn’t know what the situation actually was.
Laurie’s parents seemed proud of him. They thought he was a perfect angel. They didn’t know that Laurie was Charles. They thought that they had a child way more superior than Charles. Charles was getting in trouble for hitting teachers, kicking, and not following directions. And they were just laughing about these stories from Laurie. Therefor, completely unaware of his misbehaving.
His parents still didn’t realize, they didn’t know the whole story before making assumptions. Laurie I believe, was getting proud of how his plan was working out. But, he was maybe getting nervous too.
On the positive side, Charles eventually turns out to be a good kid. He helps out the teacher and turns his behavior around. Laurie’s parents didn’t get a laugh from learning that Charles had become a good kid and a teacher’s helper. They didn’t seem as interested in Charles after he turned his behavior around.
Parent teacher conferences were coming up. Laurie’s parents arrived with Laurie. They went to the teacher wanting to know about this CHarles kid, only to find out that there was no Charles. They also found out that Laurie had a rough start, but turned his behavior around. Then, his parents realized that Laurie was Charles.
I think Jackson uses figurative language really well. Her imagery was used very well. She described it so much that it was easy to picture what was going on. She also used metaphors and similes. Whether it was comparing one thing to another or saying one thing is another. She also uses quite a bit of exaggeration. All in all, she used her figurative language very well.
The whole story shows a strong theme of know the facts before you assume. Laurie’s parents didn’t know the facts and what was really happening, but they assumed Charles was a bad kid and that their child ( Laurie ) was much more superior than Charles. What they didn’t realize that their child was actually just Charles, only covering it up. To sum up, his parents didn’t know the facts and just assumed Laurie was an angel.
Although some people may argue that the theme is honesty, the real theme is know the facts before you assume. Laurie is lying and not telling the truth, so people may think this links to honesty. That is only a small part of the story though. The bigger picture is that fact that Laurie’s parents were oblivious to the lies the whole time, and they assumed before actually knowing the truth.
Although Laurie’s parents eventually find out the truth, they didn’t know all of the facts before they assumed and made their child seem superior to other children.
“Charles” is a short story by Shirley Jackson that tells about a little boy who makes up a boy named Charles who makes bad choices every day. What makes this story unique is that the parents believe everything that the little boy tells them . The short story focuses on how important it is to mind your own business . The author uses this to teach us lessons about minding your own business; it’s important to mind your own business so people don’t get hurt.
When Laurie’s parents asked him if he learned anything at school he told them that this boy Charles gets into a lot of trouble. We find that this shows not minding your own business because they aren’t asking Laurie how he was at school. Also, Laurie’s parents wanted to meet Charles. This tells the reader Laurie’s parents don’t know how to mind their own business because they don’t check on how Laurie was doing in school.
Jackson uses figurative language to help understand the lesson throughout the short story. First, the author uses imagery. This is found in the story when the author says, “On Monday Laurie came home late, full of news”. This helps the reader feel that Laurie has a lot to say about Charles of how bad he is. Second, the author uses hyperbole. This is found when Laurie says “Throw him out of school”. This shows that his parents are more worried about Charles getting thrown out of school then what Laurie is doing in school .
At the end of the story, Laurie’s parents find out that Charles is made up. This shows that Laurie’s parents could have not paid attention to what Charles was doing, and they should’ve asked how Laurie was doing. The readers are left wondering if Laurie’s parents change or if Laurie changed to minding their business.
“Charles” is a short story by Shirley Jackson that tells about Laurie, a little boy that lies. What makes this unique is the parents believe everything Laurie says. The short story focuses on an imaginary friend named Charles. Charles is a naughty boy. The author uses Charles to teach us lessons about minding your own business. You should pay attention to your problems not the problems of other people. Laurie’s parents never played attention to Laurie; they only wanted to know about Charles. “On Monday, Laurie came home full with news.” Everything was about charles. Charles was the only one they wanted to hear about. This tells the reader that they are more interested in Charles than Laurie. Laurie's parents never corrected him when he did naughty things. Laurie was good at times, but at other times he was RUDE. “Laurie regarded his father coldy, ‘I didn't learn nothing’ he said”. His mother corrected his grammar but not his rudeness. Frequently, Laurie is a brat. Surprisingly, his parents never realized it. In fact, they are blinded to the behavior. At the end of the story, Laurie’s mom figured out Charles was Laurie. She learns that she is a bad parent, because she ignores her son . She doesn't teach him to be polite. The whole time she was listening to Laurie’s lies, she was thinking Charles had a horrible mom. Charles did bad things, and she thought the mom didn’t discipline him or care about him.
Charles by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a kid named Laurie, and a kid at Laurie’s school, Charles, who misbehaves. Weather it be good or bad Laurie continually comes home to tell his parents what Charles did. Laurie’s parents act as if everything Charles does is a joke. Laurie’s mom even wants to meet Charles’ mom. The author does this so we know not to judge other people or get caught up in their problems; don’t get caught up in other people's problems because your might not solve your own.
Laurie’s parents really “made a fuss” over Charles. Everyday when Laurie came home from school the first thing his mom would ask about was what Charles had done that day. Even talking to her husband more about Charles than Laurie. Charles becomes a joke in Laurie’s household. Every time any of them would drop something or do something bad the would say...looks like Charles.” Doing this they began to focus more on Charles.
On the few days Laurie came home and said… Charles was so good today.” His mother would be shocked and Laurie’s father would say… You mean Charles.” Assuming that because Charles has been misbehaving he isn’t capable of doing something nice or good, he is incapable of doing the right thing. Once again being more concerned about Charles than Laurie.
Laurie concerns himself with Charles. While there is no way around it, because they go to school together, Laurie seem to pay to much attention to what Charles does. Everyday when he comes home from school and his parents asked him what Charles had done that day Laurie never tries to talk about himself, like most kindergarteners would. In school it seems Laurie seems to spend more time paying attention to Charles, so he can tell his parents. Laurie also seems to find the way Charles acts amusing. Focusing on Charles’ problems and the way he acts at school instead of his own problems or schooling.
Jackson uses imagery so we become more concerned about Charles than the real problem. Everyday Laurie comes home and has some terrible thing Charles did ready to tell his parents. The reader becomes so amazed by Charles behavior the don’t pay as much attention to Laurie. The reader even becomes distracted from the real problem of Laurie talking back to his parents and giving them “sass.” Laurie seems to act more like Charles. However, the reader probably won’t notice because they are imaging Charles’ bad behavior.
At the end of the story when Laurie’s mom goes to the meeting and finds out there is no Charles in Laurie’s kindergarten class. Laurie is Charles. After days of Laurie’s parents “laughing at Charles”they ended up not solving their own problem. Although, it could be interpreted as honest it isn’t because Laurie’s parents got so caught up in Charles problems and how his family must feel about their son. They didn’t think to solve their own problem, or look to see if they had one.
“Charles” is a short story by Shirley Jackson that tells about a little boy who lies to his parents.The author uses this to teach us lessons about don’t believe everything you hear; if you believe everything you hear then you get hurt or someone else might get hurt.
When Laurie’s parents had a hard time believing that Charles did something good. We find that this shows his parents do believe everything they hear because usually they hear everything bad. Also, Laurie’s parents heard the teacher say Charles doesn’t exist . This tells the reader the kid lied, the parents hurt themselves because they believed everything.
Jackson uses figurative language to understand the lesson throughout the short story. First, the author uses imagery. This is found when he states that Laurie came home “full of news”.This helps the reader see that his parents are just waiting for information of the naughty child.
At the end of the story, we find out Charles is a lie. This was something the parents would find out sooner if the parents looked into it or paid more attention to Laurie .The readers are left wondering if Laurie gets punished or if his parents will start paying more attention to him.
“Charles is a short story by Shirley Jackson that tells about a kid named Laurie that lies to his parents. What makes this story unique is that his parents believe everything he says . The short story focuses on Charles doing mean things to his classmates . The author uses this to teach us lessons about minding our own business; it’s important to mind your own business because if you dont people will get hurt.
Laurie’s parents believed him when Charles hit the teacher. We find when not minding your own business people will get hurt because his parents weren’t asking how their son was doing in school . Also, Laurie’s parents were more concerned about a kid geting spanked by a techer. His parents didn't ask about Laurie’s day at school. This tells the reader that his parents are too intrigued about Charles.
Jackson uses figurative language to understand the lesson throughout the short story. First, the author uses imagery, This is found when Laurie comes home late he is “full of news”. This helps the reader feel that Laurie parent’s are more intrigued about Charles.
At the end of the story, Laurie's mom goes to a teacher conference and asked the teacher about Charles and she finds out that Charles is a lie and he doesn't exist. This shows that had the parents been minding their own business they would maybe know more about their own son. The readers are left wondering if Laurie’s parent start minding their own business
Charles by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a boy named Laurie who had a few issues during the first week of Kindergarten. Although he had a few behavior issues, it’s not him doing the bad actions in his parent’s minds. Laurie comes home during lunch every day with a new story about a kid named “Charles” who is absolutely naughty. From hitting the teacher to telling kids to say bad words, but is Charles real? While Laurie’s parents think that Charles is misbehaving, it’s really Laurie.
On page 15 of the short story explains “He came home the same way, the front door slamming open...voice suddenly become raucous shouting, “isn't anybody here?” At lunch he spoke insolently to his father, spilled his baby sister’s milk.” Which could be thought through as making the reader think that the short story’s theme is “honesty”. Although “honesty” could be a thought as the theme, the story openly shows that the judgement towards Charles from Laurie’s parents is lacking attention. On page 16, there’s a conversation between Laurie’s parents stating “Do you think Kindergarten is too unsettling for Laurie? All this toughness, bad grammar, and this Charles boy sounds like such a bad influence.” Also on page 16, quoted by Laurie’s mother, says “With the third week of kindergarten, Charles was an institution in our family. The baby was pulling a Charles when she cried all afternoon.” The meaning of the sentence shows that Laurie’s mom judges not only Charles actions but relating his actions to others when they do wrong.
Next, follows a few more events showing how Laurie’s parents judge Charles, while they are completely ignoring the way how Laurie treats them and uses foul language. Closer to the end of the short story, Laurie’s mom goes to a PTA meeting to meet Charles mother. While looking for his mother, Laurie’s mom is judging all these other women. It states in the text, “At the meeting I sat restlessly, scanning each comfortable matronly face, trying to determine which one hid the secret of Charles. None of them looked to me haggard enough.” Which taken in meaning that none of the mothers looked haggard enough to be the naughty “Charles” mother.
Finally, in the end, Laurie’s mom sits down with his Kindergarten teacher. She explains how much Laurie loves Kindergarten and how he comes home everyday talking about it, not mentioning Charles yet. The teacher responds saying that Laurie had a hard time adjusting the first week but is a “fine little helper” with occasional lapses. Laurie’s mom defends him saying “Laurie usually adjusts very quickly. I suppose this time it’s Charles’s influence.” Instead of Laurie’s mother asking why he hasn’t adjusted very well, she assumes that Charles’s behavior made Laurie adjust slower. The teacher responds, confused, quoting “We don’t have a Charles in Kindergarten.” With this ending the story, the author wants us to learn the lessons “Don’t judge others by what another says” and “Don’t blame others for your actions”
“Charles” is a short story by Shirley Jackson. In the story, a kindergartener named Laurie, makes up a character named Charles, who misbehaves in class, a lot. Laurie tells his parents all about Charles, and all the bad things he does. They then become worried that he is becoming a bad influence on Laurie. When finally given the chance to speak with the teacher, they find out the truth of Charles. I think the author wrote this to show that if you lie, it can come back to hurt you.
When Laurie started telling his parents all about this kid named Charles, they actually believe him. They find the stories he tells to be quite amusing, and look forward to hearing them each night. “ I was waiting anxiously on the front steps”, Jackson wrote.
They then started to worry that Charles was becoming a bad influence on Laurie. They wanted to meet with his parents and teacher to discuss their issue with Charles. When asked about him, the teacher explains that there is no Charles in their kindergarten class. Which then they realize that Laurie has been the troublemaker all along.
Laurie had kind of brought this whole situation upon himself. He’s the one who made up Charles, and made his parents believe the stories he told. He had made up excuses to make them believe the lie even more. Such as, “... so all the children stayed to watch him.” Jackson wrote when Laurie came home late from school. When Laurie’s parents got worried that Charles was becoming a bad influence on him, they spoke with his teacher as soon as possible. Which is when they find out the truth. Laurie had done all of this for nothing, because his parents soon realized it was actually Laurie who had been doing these bad, and naughty things.
Shirley Jackson also used figurative language to show this theme. She used a lot of imagery to help readers better understand the story, and the message behind it. When waiting to speak with the teacher at the meeting, she had Laurie’s parents use words like matronly, and haggard to describe the looks on other parents faces. Using these words, she clearly shows that the parents are upset about the fact that “Charles” has created this problem.
Although it could be interpreted to show the theme is judgement, it clearly shows honesty. All in all, Laurie had been lying about Charles, and making his parents believe it was Charles who had been doing these bad things. But when they find out Laurie was lying, he could get in even more trouble.
“Charles” is a short story created by Shirley Jackson, it tells us about two children named Charles and Laurie who are kindergarteners. Charles is a misbehaving child. Charles is always getting himself or others in trouble. Everynight Laurie goes home and tells his parents about Charles.
Charles is always doing things that is against the the rules. So every night Laurie has a new interesting story since the last. One of the first stories were “Today Charles hit the teacher… “Why did Charles hit the teacher?” I asked quickly “because she tried to make him color with red crayons”” This was the first week of kindergarten. Laurie was telling his mom and dad about everything he did this week. From there the stories just got more intense.
This quickly becomes a “joke” between Laurie’s family. “...The baby was doing a Charles when she cried all night…”. The mom and dad did not know who Charles is, or who his parents are. The adults were going off of what Laurie says, They never talked to a teacher and started to judge Charles.
Parent/Teacher conferences come around, and the mom of Laurie gets more accusative. The first thing she did was try to find Charles parents. “...None of them looked haggard enough…” As soon as she didn’t think anyone would look even close, she asked the teacher. To her surprise no one in the class is named Charles. This part could be interpreted as be honest but it clearly means dont assume things until you know the facts because you never know the outcome. You could be totally wrong and look like a fool, and it could actually be about you.
“Charles” really makes you think on when you have assumed and judged people. Along with when you were wrong about it. The theme was when you make assumptions you make you and whoever you convinced seem rude.
“Charles” is a story by Shirley Jackson, that takes place at Laurie’s school and home. The setting of this book makes it interesting because it talks about a character who doesn’t actually exist. This short story focuses on a kindergartener named Laurie who makes bad decisions in school, and blames it on a made up student. When Laurie’s parents hear stories about “Charles” they immediately judge him of being a bad student. The author uses this to teach us lessons about judgement; don’t judge something or someone without the whole story.
First, when Laurie returns home from school his parents are always waiting to hear what happened at school. Laurie always replies with Charles got in trouble and had to stay after school again. Because of the stories Laurie tells his parents, they become concerned. This could be interpreted as honesty; however it clearly shows a lack of judgement. The day of the P.T.A meeting Laurie’s parents talked with Laurie’s teacher about what has been going on at school. The whole meeting no one brought up Charles and his behavior. However, what they find out after the meeting suprises them. They find out that there isn’t a Charles in kindergarten and that Laurie wasn’t telling the truth. In fact, the whole time they were focused more on the stories that were told by Laurie, instead of noticing that it was actually Laurie doing the actions.
Although Laurie was lying about Charles to his parents, it’s a good thing that they had the P.T.A meeting because otherwise they wouldn’t have known that Laurie was actually “Charles.” One day at school Laurie told his peers, “Well, Charles was bad again today.” Instead of the students sitting around listening to what he has to say they should ask him nicely to change his attitude towards others. If the students would stand up to Laurie and say could you change the way you interact with others maybe he would take their advice. When the students stay after school to watch “Charles”, it just makes it seem okay for him to keep being disrespectful. Do you think Laurie is being naughty to get attention from his teacher and his friends?
Lastly, Jackson shows imagery in this story to give us an idea of what took place at the P.T.A meeting. The strongest imagery comes from the sentence, “At the meeting I sat restlessly, scanning each comfortable matronly face.” Jackson is showing that Laurie is anxious to see what will happen after the meeting is done. The imagery in this sentence helps us feel the intensity and what it would feel like if we were in Laurie’s shoes.
At the end of the story, Laurie’s parents add, “you must have your hands full in the kindergarten, with Charles” the teacher replies with, “we don’t have any Charles in the kindergarten.” The readers are left wondering what happened to Laurie and if he forgave everyone he was disrespectful to.
“Charles” is a short story by shirley Jackson. The story takes place in a town in the United States. It follows the life of a young boy named Laurie. The reason that the story is so enthralling is because the author makes the reader want to know more about Charles. Charles is a kindergarten student who attends the same school as Laurie. Everyday when Laurie comes home he tells his parents another crazy story about what Charles did that day. The parents started to believe that Charles was a very strange kid. Can you blame them? One day he’s hitting the teacher and the next he’s the teachers little helper. At the end of the story, Laurie’s mother goes to the Parent Teacher Meeting, or PTA meeting, to address Charles, and search for his mother. Where she will finally discover the truth about the real charles. The parents stole the truth from their kindergarten son and not from someone more reliable. The author uses this to sow that you cannot judge a book by it’s cover. Sometimes when we make assumptions, it can cover up the real information and make us and whoever we convinced seem rude.
When Charles is naughty in class, all of the other students see him as cool and want to exactly like him, according to Laurie. Once during school Charles made such a fuss that it disrupted some of the other classes. Then Charles had to stay after school. Jackson states “... all the children stayed to watch him”. As the story progresses we start to really understand that the children don’t just think that the children don’t just think of him as a leader. When Charles became the teachers little helper we can tell Laurie isn’t happy about it. Jackson states “ Laurie reported grimly at lunch … Charles was so good today the teacher gave him an apple.” To repeat, “ Laurie reported grimly” meaning Laurie was not happy about Charles being good. After only one week we could tell that Laurie had lost all the energy he had when he was telling his parents about Charles. Whenever he got home from school, for lunch, he was always so sad to say that Charles had been good again. Instead of showing happiness that Charles was, finally, starting to act more nice. It seemed as though Laurie was very sad and unenthusiastic. Had Laurie been able to think more like an adult, he would realize that it was a good thing that Charles was starting to be less naughty.
Although, the students are partially to blame for blindly following Charles lead, the parents, in the story, are also to blame for being to judging and assuming that Charles was always bad. We see that not only do the children think of Charles as a leader but the parents are not actively trying to understand the situation. They actually thought of him as more of a joke and thought it was funny to make jokes about his behavior. Jackson states “ The baby was being a Charles when she cried… Laurie was being a Charles when he filled his wagon full of mud… my husband was being a Charles when he caught his elbow in the telephone cord…” From this we can tell that the parents think that whenever something goes wrong or someone is bad, that it’s Charles fault.
The parents were so blind by Laurie’s funny stories they didn’t even go searching for the truth about Charles. They just assumed he was a bad kid with bad parents at his home. Jackson states “ Scanning each matronly face, trying to determine which one hid the secret of Charles. None of them looked haggard enough…” This made the mother blind to the fact that the truth was right underneath her nose. So when she finally found out the truth she realized that she had made a terrible mistake and felt more rude and at fault, then she had ever felt.
Jackson also uses repetition to show us how blind trust and assumptions can create a wall of lies that we can’t see through. The strongest repetition in the short story would have to be Laurie’s, Charles stories. The stories that he tells to his parents makes them feel as though they know so much about Charles. They feel like they have the right to make assumptions about Charles, and his family, without making certain that the information Laurie was telling them was true. When the stories could have been all lies. This could be thought of as honesty, but it clearly shows a large amount of assumptions being made. We as readers feel as though we know Charles as well, but we don’t actually know anything about him, at all.
“Charles” is a short story by Shirley Jackson. This story takes place in a kindergarten classroom, and Laurie’s home. “Charles” revolves around two kindergarteners, Laurie and Charles. The main center point of this story is to not make assumptions, because it covers the truth and makes you and whoever you convinced seem rude. Everyday when Laurie goes to school, one of his classmates causes a lot of trouble. Charles is the class troublemaker. He does some pretty bad stuff, for example: pounding his feet, hitting a teacher, and even bouncing a see-saw on a girls head. For this reason he faces some consequences such as having to stay inside for recess, having to sit in the corner during reading time, and even having to stay after school. When Laurie gets home from school he tells his parents what Charles did. Day after day Laurie tells his parents what happened. It gets to the point where his parents start to become concerned for their sons well being at school, thinking that Charles is a bad influence. Laurie’s family automatically assumes that what their son is telling them, is the full truth. They don’t take the time to investigate into what was really going on in Laurie’s classroom. The author dropped subtle hints hinting towards the end of the story. For example: When his mother was asking who the trouble maker was, Shirley Jackson wrote “Laurie thought. ‘it was charles,’ he said”. The author was hinting towards the fact that Laurie had to quickly come up with a name, in order to blame his behaviors on a different person. Throughout this whole story, his parents believe that their son is a perfect little kindergartener and are happy that this is not their son, until one day at a PTA meeting. Laurie's mom “... sat restlessly, scanning each motronaly face, trying to determine which one hid the secret of Charles.” Shirley Jackson is in other words saying that Laurie’s mother was making assumptions about all the mothers there without knowing anything about them. At the very end of the story, Laurie’s mom went up to the teacher and asked about Charles, only to find out that there is no Charles. Her son, Laurie, has been making up Charles all along. Charles actions are actually her sons. Well it may be argued that the theme is honesty, it is actually making assumptions. Throughout the whole story, Laurie’s family has been making assumptions about Charles and even parents at the PTA meeting. Shirley Jackson uses literary elements such as imagery to show how Laurie's mom was making assumptions about every parent at the PTA meeting. In conclusion the theme of “Charles” is to not make assumptions, because it covers the truth, and can make you and whoever you convince seem rude.
“Charles” is a short story by Shirley Jackson, that takes place in England. The story is about a boy in kindergarten named Laurie. He comes home everyday from school, sometimes late, sometimes early. Once Laurie gets home from school he tells his parents about the trouble Charles gets in, Charles is a boy in Laurie’s class that is always getting into some trouble. He tells his parents about the things Charles does at school, but his parents worry and assume right away that he is a horrible kid. Laurie’s parents would make fun of Charles in a way to prove that Laurie is a better student. The author uses this scenario to show that being too confident in something can lead to many and bigger problems in the end. At the beginning, Laurie’s parents never really bothered to know what happened with Charles that day in school; but as Laurie kept talking about him more and more they would ask everyday “What’d he do today?” The parents wanted to know more about Charles than what Laurie was just telling them, like: what he looked like and, what his last name was. As the story progresses they were starting to question if kindergarten was too “unsettling” for Laurie because of Charles and his bad behavior towards the teachers. They started becoming more confident that their son is better than Charles. Even though Laurie’s parent’s actions weren’t the best with Charles and thinking too highly of themselves, Laurie’s actions weren’t any better. Laurie tells everything about Charles to his parents everyday after school is done and he gets home. He walks in from school, talks about Charles; eating dinner, talk about Charles. After the few days of Laurie talking about Charles he started acting like him at home: “Look up, look down,..., look at my thumb. Gee you’re dumb.”, “Hi Pop, y’old dust mop,”, “...he filled his wagon full of mud and pulled it through the kitchen…”, “...spilled his baby sister’s milk all over…”, and “He came home… front door slamming open,...” Sometimes Charles would be bad in school,and all of the kids in class would stay after school because they were there when it happened. Shirley Jackson used figurative language to show the theme in his story. One of the major elements to show theme was imagery. “...sat restlessly, scanning each comfortable matronly face,...” describes what Laurie’s mom is doing and how she’s doing it. Laurie’s mom is looking for Charles and his mom from Laurie’s description: “He’s bigger than me,... And he doesn’t have any rubber and he doesn’t ever wear a jacket.” Her looking for them is very nosy of her and is trying to help her see “...which one hid the secret of Charles.” By showing the theme in the book she also used repetition. Shirley Jackson showed repetition by having Laurie come home every single day after school talking about Charles and how he does something similar everyday. It helps show that it’s important to know and a part of the theme. At the end of the story, when Laurie’s mom is at the P.T.A. meeting and finds out that Charles isn’t actually who she’s thought it was. Not only did they find out that Charles was someone they knew, but the part where he was their own son being “Charles”.
“Charles” is a short story by Shirley Jackson, this story is about a little boy named Laurie who is in Kindergarten. Everyday he comes home from school and tells his parents about another boy named Charles. Charles is a kid in Laurie’s class that is naughty and fascinates some of the other kids. Laurie’s mom and dad only talk to Laurie about Charles and start getting worried for the kid. His mom got way too worried and went to a PTA meeting to confront Charles's mother. She never was able to talk to Charles's mom, but she did find out that there was no Charles's in the kindergarten. This show that Charles is a made up character for Laurie’s identity. His parents become so immune to Laurie’s stories that all they want to talk about is Charles. The author uses these plots by teaching us to worry about ourselves. Even though you might be worried about others, worry about yourself first. Laurie came home everyday talking about all of the mischief Charles would do. After the first day of school his parents would always ask “What did Charles do today….Why did he hit the teacher?” They would ask these questions every time Laurie would get home from school. Laurie would respond as if it was family time. For this reason his parents don’t realize that only his parents talk about Charles and not him. He didn’t realize that they didn’t care about his day and neither did the parents. The parents probably would have noticed if only Laurie would notice because he wouldn’t of been as excited as he is. Laurie doesn’t see that his parents only talk about Charles, since Laurie is “Charles” he is basically talking about his day. Laurie also doesn’t see it’s bad because his parents never straight out say that that is bad of him. “Charles's” life and mischief at school grabs his parents attention more than what Laurie’s is. This also can be interpreted as honesty, but it clearly is worry about yourself first. Laurie changes his actions right when the first day of kindergarten started. On the first day of school his mom walked him to the bus and he didn’t say goodbye as he usually does. He also changed his style in clothes, instead of wearing bibs, blue jeans and a belt. He now wears “Swaggering clothes and long trousers.” When he came home from school he “....slammed the front door open, his cap on the floor…. And shouted Isn’t anybody home!” Laurie also spoke to his father disrespectfully, spilled his baby sisters milk and said that his teacher said we should not say the Lord's name in Vain. These all show that Laurie’s behavior has majorly changed and that his also could be apart of some of Charle’s personality. His parents would have known if they wouldn’t of worries about “Charles” as much. Laurie always seems to know everything about Charles. He knows very specific details about “What he did during or after school.” Which is a lot of information for a kindergartener. One of Laurie’s behaviors that really was a warning was that Charles came home late from school, but said he stayed after to watch Charles stay after school for getting in trouble by the teacher. His behaviors show the theme because it shoes he’s changed and how he acts like Charles. Shirley Jackson uses Figurative Language to show the theme. One of the most obvious ones is Imagery. The author really shows how “Charles”(Laurie) acts at school VS. how Laurie acts at home. Another Figurative Language she uses is Repetition. She uses Repetition in a way of more of what the parents say. Like how they always want to know what Charles did not what Lauren did. An example of this is “What did he do today….Why would he do that?” By saying this it shows who really they were worried about and how they didn’t ask what Lauren did today. So, we really know that they weren’t worried about Laurie. Laurie’s parents also show theme because Laurie’s mom tries to go to the PTA meeting and wants to know about Charles. All in all, Out of my mind is about honesty, but deep down in the text it shows that the theme is to worry about yourself first.
Bad behavior can make people judge you and it can also make you hurt other people around you. Charles by Shirley Jackson is a short story based on a student in kindergarten named Charles, Charles is a bad student who is harmful to other kids, and the teacher in the classroom. This short story is so interesting because everyday Laurie would come home and say bad news about Charles. The characters in this story are Laurie, Laurie’s parents, children from kindergarten, the teacher, and of course Charles. In this short story it mainly focuses on a student names Charles. Everyday Laurie comes home and tells his parents on what Charles did in school. Charles is a naughty. When laurie comes from school his parents ask on what happened today and Laurie say…. “Charles what bad again” and then Laurie's mom judged Charles because of his bad behavior. The author showed this because bad behavior can cause other people around you to judge and not only judging, but it can also make you hurt others around you too. Laurie's mom was very judgemental she always judged Charles when he was naught. One day Laurie’s parents when to a pto meeting hoping to run into Charles's mom and to also have a little chat with her about how Charles's is a very naughty student. ..”Scanning each comfortable monitory face,” “None of them looked haggard enough.”Laurie’s mom judged the other moms because they didn't look innocent to her. Although the author is showing judgment she is also showing bad behavior. Laurie always came home with …”Charles was bad agin.” Laurie always came home with news about Charles. Charles would either slap a teacher, smash a little girl's head in a seesaw, or tell the other students to say naughty words in school, and maybe stay after school. The author also showed was repetition. She did this because she was trying to show what the problem was but in this case it was Charles's and his bad behavior. She also did this to make a point in the story. In conclusion Charles was judged on and hurt teachers and children in school, during the PTO meeting Laurie's parents also found out who Charles really was.
The story “Charles” by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a boy on his first week of kindergarten. His name, Laurie comes home everyday with some new gossip about this other boy named Charles. He told his parents about this naughty child and they are delighted to wanting to know more. Laurie parents asked how was his day after he comes home from school. Everyday he told something that happened to caused the teacher to spank Charlies. Making his parents to be more curious. Laurie tells them more and more about what he does everyday. Laurie’s father, went to bent down to his son for some juicy gossip, making his eyes shot wide. With his parents are in delighted about the gossip that they were talking about it. His mother wondered if Charlie's mother knew what his son were doing and if she was angry at him for what he’s done. The overall of this story that it’s mostly about gossip. Laurie’s parents are in courage of wanting to know more and how naughty the child is. Charlies then became the teacher’s helper for a few days before beginning to act up again. Causing to have a lot more gossip for Laurie to tell his parents.
Charles is a short story by Shirley Jackson which takes place in a New England home/school. The story is very unique, because one boy comes home everyday complaining how bad a boy named Charles was at school. Our story that we read focuses on a 5 year old boy named lauri. Also it focuses on how his mom keeps judging everyone, but she finds out something. That’s how the author shows the theme; Don't judge people before you judge yourself.
When laurie goes to kindergarten for his first day, he started to act a lot different when he came home. “He came home the same way… and then his voice suddenly became raucous shouting. Isn’t anybody here!” In other words, laurie came home acting very rude to his parents everyday. He started to act so mean insulting his father, and then spilling his baby sister’s milk on purpose. Everyday he started to come home telling more and more bad stuff of wh At this boy Charles did at school. Then all of the sudden everything changed, and then he came home telling how good charles was at school that day. Also he started to act very good at school like him.
Laurie’s parents acting very immature about the whole situation. They started to make fun of the bad behavior that charles was doing. They also thought that their was so perfect. When laurie's mom went to the PTA meetings she was judging literally everyone there. She didn’t even take in any chance that her son was actually charles! Also, they didn’t even take in how mean charles was everyday, ” Gee your and then began to laugh insanely.” He kept saying rude things, and kept being mean to his parents. Laurie said that to his dad, and he didn't even care at all!
This book also uses figurative language to show judgment. When laurie’s mom was at the PTA meeting she said, “ Isat reslessy, scanning each comfortable matronly face” In other words, she was checking for any worries looking faces but didn’t find any. The author uses imagery to put that image in your head and see how she actually looked like ALso, if your view the other parents view the other parents perspective when laurie’s mpm was judging everyone. She look very worried like “charles” parents would have looked like if they were there. Also this story has exregation, because every time laurie cames home he explains how bad charles was, but a little bit too much. Also, he yells, and yells for no reason.
All in all, don't judge people before you judge yourself. At the end it could be interpreted as being honest, because they find out that laurie is charles, but it clearly shows that judge yourself before judging is better. It show this, by laurie’s mom being very surprised and never even thought about it that laurie could have been charles.
Charles by shirley jackson is a book about a kid named Laurie the whole book revolves around him telling lies to his parents and the result of all his lies.The three important characters in this story are the parents Laurie and the teacher who all have an influence about what goes on in the story which makes me feel like being honest to others is an important theme in this story since it shows that lies do have consequences and can affect others. The people that were most affected were the parents,since charles started school he had come back everyday with a story to tell about Charles the lies that Laurie told them made them start to think wow the parents of charles must be horrible people”none of them look haggard enough to me.”She said while trying to find out who the mother of charles was she started judging people and thinking bad thoughts about others because of the lies that her child told her. Laurie the child is one of the most important characters in the story he’s the one who tells the lies the one who is charles and causes others to act in a bad way.Laurie came back one day from school and made up charles he then told his parents about charles his parents seemed really interested which then ended up causing him to do more and more horrible things he didn’t want to get in trouble so he just kept charles around.His parents would never know and the teacher would never tell. The teacher was also big part in this story since she was the one who saw this happening and never did much about she never called home to the parents maybe she thought that the kid would come home and tattle on himself.The teacher did give him a couple of punishments to try and make him act better but i feel like the teacher could have helped more by trying to have a conference with the parents or calling home they could have addressed the issue and done something about it to help improve Laurie’s behavior. In the end Laurie’s behavior was the one that caused so many problems to happen since he lied to others influencing them and their thoughts this made me feel that being honest was a very important theme in the story being honest also created the story which makes me feel that in the end being honest is what matters.
“Charles is a short story by Shirley Jackson. It takes place at school in a kindergarten class. This story focuses on a boy named Charles. Charles doesn’t act too well in school. Then another classmate that goes to the same school with Charles is Laurie. Laurie, talks about Charles everyday to his parents. Laurie always comes home and talks about how rude he is. Laurie says things like “ charles was bad again.” Or “ Charles had to stay after school again”, as Laurie comes home late. In this short story, the author is trying to tell us to not judge people based on their attitudes.Also not to judge people from the stories you hear. Something that is important to realize, Charles comes to school everyday and he ends up acting up in class. Nobody knows why, he just does. Charles gets in trouble a lot. In fact, he hurts classmates, hits teachers, he also Inciting students to use a bad word. While this may be true, Laurie said “ he told a girl to say a bad word….teacher washed her mouth out with soap.” That being said, Charles wants other kids to get in trouble. Charles came to school one day and he was good for only that day. Everyone wanted Charles to be this way everyday but that wasn’t the case. But then he came back to school and Charles was back to being bad again. For example hitting and hurting people. As stated again, Laurie wants Charles to be in trouble. When Laurie is talking about these stories to his parents, his parents wants to go talk with Charles parents. Laurie’s parents talk to the teacher about Charles. Then, the teacher says “ there is no Charles.” Laurie’s parents were very confused. Everyone then realized it was Laurie who was causing all of the trouble. Laurie was just making up a kid named Charles. Even though there was no Charles, Laurie could’ve told her parents the truth before they talked to the teacher. In this short story, the author was showing us don’t lie, judge, or blame others. The author wants us to feel their emotions. In the short story “ Charles” there was no one named Charles and Laurie was just making it up. Don’t judge people based on their stories. You don’t always no the truth, or the background of the story.
ReplyDeleteGood job Vanessa
ReplyDeleteCharles
ReplyDelete¨Charles¨ is a short story written by Shirley Jackson that takes place at the main character Laurie’s school and house. The theme of this story is interesting because it all revolves around a fictional character named Charles who is in Laurie’s kindergarten class. The story focuses on a kindergartener named Laurie that comes home everyday after school to tell his parents what sort of trouble Charles got into. This makes Laurie’s parents automatically judge Charles based on the horrible things Laurie tells them. It seems like they never could imagine their own child acting like Charles. The author creates a scenario that teaches us to be careful when we judge others.
When Laurie comes home everyday after school, Laurie’s parents are so anxious to hear what trouble Charles got into. They are concerned for their son’s well being at school and believe that Charles is a bad influence on Laurie. What they don’t realize is that Laurie is making up Charles to blame his own behaviors upon him. They are too focused on Laurie’s stories about Charles to really figure out what’s going on. They automatically assume Laurie isn’t a problem at school when he is. A prime example is when Laurie came home for school late one day and told his parents it was because Charles got into trouble. Not once did they question why Laurie had to stay after because of Laurie’s behavior. The author gave a hint to the reader to the resolution to the story.
The parent’s concerns about Charles kept on growing. When Laurie continues to tell them what happened at school, they start to ridicule Charles. “The baby was being a Charles when she cried all afternoon.” In other words, Laurie’s mother is saying when a member in her family did something wrong or unnecessary, she’s saying they pulled a “Charles”. By putting all their attention towards Charles, it makes them blind to the real problem which is Laurie and his behavior. Although it could be argued that the theme is honestly, the text actually says Laurie’s parents have been judging Charles this whole time when it was their own child.
The author used many literary elements in this short story to show the theme is judging. One of the elements he used in this story is an imagery; “I sat restlessly, scanning each comfortable matronly face,”. In this example, Laurie’s mother is saying all the other other moms at the PTA meeting looked too pleasant and interacting to be Charlie’s mom. Which means she is judging them, saying they don’t appear to be haggard or dreadful as the mother of Charles. Another literary element the author used was an idiom, “you must have your hands full in that kindergarten, with Charles”. Again, she seems to be judging, saying the teacher must have all of her attention towards Charles and dealing with his bad behavior.
At the end of the story, Laurie’s mother finds out there is no Charles in the kindergarten class, leaving her to realize it was her own child that was acting this way. This shows the reader how she judged Charles this whole time, being dumbfounded to find out it was her own son to whom she was judging. It must have been very hard for her to learn this. Sometimes in life in order to learn a lesson you have to experience it yourself. You would hope that his parents would be more careful to whom they would judge in the future.
Charles is a short story by Shirley Jackson. The story is about a boy named Laurie who makes up fake stories about a kid in his kindergarten named Charles. Charles is a troublemaker and everyday Lourie comes home from school with a story about how bad Charles behaved. His parents always listened to the stories and were surprised at what Charles did that day. They think that Charles is a bad influence on Laurie and they start to judge Charles and his parents. In the end they find out that Laurie is actually Charles and they have been judging themselves. The theme of the story is don't rush to judge other people you don't know when you have your own problems to deal with.
ReplyDeleteFor the first parent teacher meeting that Laurie's mom couldn't go to, she wanted to go just to find out about Charles and his mom so she could look and judge them. She didn't want to go to see how Laurie was doing just to look at Charles and his mom.
When Laurie tells his parents about Charles that could be interpreted as honesty, but Laurie parents are more interested in judging others than listening. They judge charles and his parents so much they don't realise Charles is their son Laurie. An example of this is when Laurie comes home from school the second day and he calls his dad dumb, but since he was telling the story of what Charles did that day they didn't pay attention.
The negative feelings that the parents have for Charles gets worse as time progresses. An example of this is when Laurie tells his parents that Charles was good for a week by passing out crayons and helping the teacher. Instead of thinking he changed they think he is plotting. If they would have looked past their judging they could have seen the signs that Laurie is Charles and they are only judging themselves.
The author also used figurative language to show theme. On the top of the third page Laurie announced that Charles was bigger than him and that he doesn't wear a jacket or rubbers (which when this story was made would have been like rebelling against society). He is implying that Charles is bigger and more important than him and that they should be paying more attention to Charles misbehaviors and not Lauries misbehaviours.
If Lauries parents wouldn't have payed attention to Charles so much they would have seen that Laurey is Charles and Laurey is doing all the bad stuff. Like in the beginning when Laurie was wearing blue jeans with a belt, forgot to wave goodbye to his mom, slammed the front door, threw his cap on the floor and spoke poorly to his dad. Once he told his mom and dad about Charles they didn't care anymore and started to ask Laurie what he looked like and what his last name is.
At the end once they went to the parent teacher meeting they figured out that Laurie is Charles. The parents have spent weeks judging and joking about Charles. But at the end when they realise that they have been making fun of themselves they are surprised. They have been judging Charles so much they were blind to all the signs that Laurie was Charles and instantly realise what they have been doing wrong and regret. That is where the story ended with the reader wondering what would happen to Laurie for his punishment and how poorly the parents felt.
“Charles” is a short story by Shirley Jackson that is about a kid in kindergarten that comes home from school every day and tells his parents about a kid named Charles. Charles did a lot of bad stuff, like he hit the teacher because he wanted to color with a green crayon and the teacher wanted him to color with a red crayon. The author uses this to teach us lessons that is about when you tell a lie throw someone you can get in more trouble.
ReplyDeleteWhen Laurie came home from the first day of kindergarten he told his parents about this kid named Charles and what he did. Laurie‘s family started to gosup about Charles and they wanted to meet charles parents.
Ever scenes the first day of kindergarten charles has been very bad he hit the teacher, made a kid bleed, he also made a kid say a bad word. When ever he does something bad he gets spanked.
Laurie tells his parents about charles and how he is fresh. It is a metaphorical because it means not previously known or used. When ever laurie’s family did something wrong they called it a charles. When someone would bump into someone they would say stop it charles. But what they should of been saying is stop is laurie.
In conclusion laurie and charles are the same person. All though it could be argued that the lesson is honesty the text is talking about how he lies about charles.
“Charles” is a short story written by shirley jackson, It about this little kid named laurie, who just started kindergarten. Laurie decides to make up a kid named Charles, and Charles mis behavior. Laurie would go home and tell his parents, they weren't too happy but they were glad it wasn’t their child. But after time his parents started to worry about this Charles kid, thinking Laurie might start acting like him. Soon parent teacher conferences come up, and Laurie's mother went in to talk to the teacher about Charles, but in the end they really find out the truth about Charles. My thoughts on why the author writes this, is to teach you that, by lying your getting yourself into more trouble, because that lie can get back to, but it won’t be good.
ReplyDeleteAt first Laurie's parents, when they were hearing about this Charles kid, they believed Laurie. There were several stories about Charles behavior, some of them were amusing but others were just rude. “It was Charles” he said “he was fresh” Jackson wrote. They even starting using Charles as like an adjective.
Later on as Charles behavior was getting worse, laurie's parents we getting worried. They thought Charles was a bad influence on him, and they wanted to talk to the teacher about the Charles kid. But when Laurie's mother gets a chance to speak with the teacher, she had no idea who Charles was.
So after everything the parents are shocked, because they found out the truth about Charles, and it wasn't good. They found that Laurie was really Charles and that Laurie had been lying and doing all the bad things that he had said Charles did.
I think what Laurie did was not all bad, i think he was under the influence that it's cool or “fresh” as Jackson wrote, to act like that. I also think that Laurie thought that because he was starting kindergarten, that he needed to act different.
Overall “Charles” is a good short story , and teaches a good lesson. So if your about to make a big lie take a look back at what Laurie did, you might want to reconsider.
Charles, Literary Essay
ReplyDelete“ Charles” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. It takes place when Laurie is in kindergarten. The story is interesting because his parents don’t even realize that Laurie has been lying about his behavior and the kids on his class. The story really focused on what events and reactions of Laurie's parents.
First, Laurie starts kindergarten. There is a trouble maker named Charles in the class. Laurie would go home everyday and tell his parents about his day. He also told them about the things Charles would do in class. His parents started to laugh about Laurie’s stories of Charles. His parents were oblivious to the fact that Laurie was not being truthful. His parents didn’t know what the situation actually was.
Laurie’s parents seemed proud of him. They thought he was a perfect angel. They didn’t know that Laurie was Charles. They thought that they had a child way more superior than Charles. Charles was getting in trouble for hitting teachers, kicking, and not following directions. And they were just laughing about these stories from Laurie. Therefor, completely unaware of his misbehaving.
His parents still didn’t realize, they didn’t know the whole story before making assumptions. Laurie I believe, was getting proud of how his plan was working out. But, he was maybe getting nervous too.
On the positive side, Charles eventually turns out to be a good kid. He helps out the teacher and turns his behavior around. Laurie’s parents didn’t get a laugh from learning that Charles had become a good kid and a teacher’s helper. They didn’t seem as interested in Charles after he turned his behavior around.
Parent teacher conferences were coming up. Laurie’s parents arrived with Laurie. They went to the teacher wanting to know about this CHarles kid, only to find out that there was no Charles. They also found out that Laurie had a rough start, but turned his behavior around. Then, his parents realized that Laurie was Charles.
I think Jackson uses figurative language really well. Her imagery was used very well. She described it so much that it was easy to picture what was going on. She also used metaphors and similes. Whether it was comparing one thing to another or saying one thing is another. She also uses quite a bit of exaggeration. All in all, she used her figurative language very well.
The whole story shows a strong theme of know the facts before you assume. Laurie’s parents didn’t know the facts and what was really happening, but they assumed Charles was a bad kid and that their child ( Laurie ) was much more superior than Charles. What they didn’t realize that their child was actually just Charles, only covering it up. To sum up, his parents didn’t know the facts and just assumed Laurie was an angel.
Although some people may argue that the theme is honesty, the real theme is know the facts before you assume. Laurie is lying and not telling the truth, so people may think this links to honesty. That is only a small part of the story though. The bigger picture is that fact that Laurie’s parents were oblivious to the lies the whole time, and they assumed before actually knowing the truth.
Although Laurie’s parents eventually find out the truth, they didn’t know all of the facts before they assumed and made their child seem superior to other children.
“Charles” is a short story by Shirley Jackson that tells about a little boy who makes up a boy named Charles who makes bad choices every day. What makes this story unique is that the parents believe everything that the little boy tells them . The short story focuses on how important it is to mind your own business . The author uses this to teach us lessons about minding your own business; it’s important to mind your own business so people don’t get hurt.
ReplyDeleteWhen Laurie’s parents asked him if he learned anything at school he told them that this boy Charles gets into a lot of trouble. We find that this shows not minding your own business because they aren’t asking Laurie how he was at school. Also, Laurie’s parents wanted to meet Charles. This tells the reader Laurie’s parents don’t know how to mind their own business because they don’t check on how Laurie was doing in school.
Jackson uses figurative language to help understand the lesson throughout the short story. First, the author uses imagery. This is found in the story when the author says, “On Monday Laurie came home late, full of news”. This helps the reader feel that Laurie has a lot to say about Charles of how bad he is. Second, the author uses hyperbole. This is found when Laurie says “Throw him out of school”. This shows that his parents are more worried about Charles getting thrown out of school then what Laurie is doing in school .
At the end of the story, Laurie’s parents find out that Charles is made up. This shows that Laurie’s parents could have not paid attention to what Charles was doing, and they should’ve asked how Laurie was doing. The readers are left wondering if Laurie’s parents change or if Laurie changed to minding their business.
“Charles” is a short story by Shirley Jackson that tells about Laurie, a little boy that lies. What makes this unique is the parents believe everything Laurie says. The short story focuses on an imaginary friend named Charles. Charles is a naughty boy. The author uses Charles to teach us lessons about minding your own business. You should pay attention to your problems not the problems of other people.
ReplyDeleteLaurie’s parents never played attention to Laurie; they only wanted to know about Charles. “On Monday, Laurie came home full with news.” Everything was about charles. Charles was the only one they wanted to hear about. This tells the reader that they are more interested in Charles than Laurie.
Laurie's parents never corrected him when he did naughty things. Laurie was good at times, but at other times he was RUDE. “Laurie regarded his father coldy, ‘I didn't learn nothing’ he said”. His mother corrected his grammar but not his rudeness. Frequently, Laurie is a brat. Surprisingly, his parents never realized it. In fact, they are blinded to the behavior.
At the end of the story, Laurie’s mom figured out Charles was Laurie. She learns that she is a bad parent, because she ignores her son . She doesn't teach him to be polite. The whole time she was listening to Laurie’s lies, she was thinking Charles had a horrible mom. Charles did bad things, and she thought the mom didn’t discipline him or care about him.
Charles by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a kid named Laurie, and a kid at Laurie’s school, Charles, who misbehaves. Weather it be good or bad Laurie continually comes home to tell his parents what Charles did. Laurie’s parents act as if everything Charles does is a joke. Laurie’s mom even wants to meet Charles’ mom. The author does this so we know not to judge other people or get caught up in their problems; don’t get caught up in other people's problems because your might not solve your own.
ReplyDeleteLaurie’s parents really “made a fuss” over Charles. Everyday when Laurie came home from school the first thing his mom would ask about was what Charles had done that day. Even talking to her husband more about Charles than Laurie. Charles becomes a joke in Laurie’s household. Every time any of them would drop something or do something bad the would say...looks like Charles.” Doing this they began to focus more on Charles.
On the few days Laurie came home and said… Charles was so good today.” His mother would be shocked and Laurie’s father would say… You mean Charles.” Assuming that because Charles has been misbehaving he isn’t capable of doing something nice or good, he is incapable of doing the right thing. Once again being more concerned about Charles than Laurie.
Laurie concerns himself with Charles. While there is no way around it, because they go to school together, Laurie seem to pay to much attention to what Charles does. Everyday when he comes home from school and his parents asked him what Charles had done that day Laurie never tries to talk about himself, like most kindergarteners would. In school it seems Laurie seems to spend more time paying attention to Charles, so he can tell his parents. Laurie also seems to find the way Charles acts amusing. Focusing on Charles’ problems and the way he acts at school instead of his own problems or schooling.
Jackson uses imagery so we become more concerned about Charles than the real problem. Everyday Laurie comes home and has some terrible thing Charles did ready to tell his parents. The reader becomes so amazed by Charles behavior the don’t pay as much attention to Laurie. The reader even becomes distracted from the real problem of Laurie talking back to his parents and giving them “sass.” Laurie seems to act more like Charles. However, the reader probably won’t notice because they are imaging Charles’ bad behavior.
At the end of the story when Laurie’s mom goes to the meeting and finds out there is no Charles in Laurie’s kindergarten class. Laurie is Charles. After days of Laurie’s parents “laughing at Charles”they ended up not solving their own problem. Although, it could be interpreted as honest it isn’t because Laurie’s parents got so caught up in Charles problems and how his family must feel about their son. They didn’t think to solve their own problem, or look to see if they had one.
“Charles” is a short story by Shirley Jackson that tells about a little boy who lies to his parents.The author uses this to teach us lessons about don’t believe everything you hear; if you believe everything you hear then you get hurt or someone else might get hurt.
ReplyDeleteWhen Laurie’s parents had a hard time believing that Charles did something good. We find that this shows his parents do believe everything they hear because usually they hear everything bad. Also, Laurie’s parents heard the teacher say Charles doesn’t exist . This tells the reader the kid lied, the parents hurt themselves because they believed everything.
Jackson uses figurative language to understand the lesson throughout the short story. First, the author uses imagery. This is found when he states that Laurie came home “full of news”.This helps the reader see that his parents are just waiting for information of the naughty child.
At the end of the story, we find out Charles is a lie. This was something the parents would find out sooner if the parents looked into it or paid more attention to Laurie .The readers are left wondering if Laurie gets punished or if his parents will start paying more attention to him.
“Charles is a short story by Shirley Jackson that tells about a kid named Laurie that lies to his parents. What makes this story unique is that his parents believe everything he says . The short story focuses on Charles doing mean things to his classmates . The author uses this to teach us lessons about minding our own business; it’s important to mind your own business because if you dont people will get hurt.
ReplyDeleteLaurie’s parents believed him when Charles hit the teacher. We find when not minding your own business people will get hurt because his parents weren’t asking how their son was doing in school . Also, Laurie’s parents were more concerned about a kid geting spanked by a techer. His parents didn't ask about Laurie’s day at school. This tells the reader that his parents are too intrigued about Charles.
Jackson uses figurative language to understand the lesson throughout the short story. First, the author uses imagery, This is found when Laurie comes home late he is “full of news”. This helps the reader feel that Laurie parent’s are more intrigued about Charles.
At the end of the story, Laurie's mom goes to a teacher conference and asked the teacher about Charles and she finds out that Charles is a lie and he doesn't exist. This shows that had the parents been minding their own business they would maybe know more about their own son. The readers are left wondering if Laurie’s parent start minding their own business
Charles by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a boy named Laurie who had a few issues during the first week of Kindergarten. Although he had a few behavior issues, it’s not him doing the bad actions in his parent’s minds. Laurie comes home during lunch every day with a new story about a kid named “Charles” who is absolutely naughty. From hitting the teacher to telling kids to say bad words, but is Charles real? While Laurie’s parents think that Charles is misbehaving, it’s really Laurie.
ReplyDeleteOn page 15 of the short story explains “He came home the same way, the front door slamming open...voice suddenly become raucous shouting, “isn't anybody here?” At lunch he spoke insolently to his father, spilled his baby sister’s milk.” Which could be thought through as making the reader think that the short story’s theme is “honesty”. Although “honesty” could be a thought as the theme, the story openly shows that the judgement towards Charles from Laurie’s parents is lacking attention. On page 16, there’s a conversation between Laurie’s parents stating “Do you think Kindergarten is too unsettling for Laurie? All this toughness, bad grammar, and this Charles boy sounds like such a bad influence.” Also on page 16, quoted by Laurie’s mother, says “With the third week of kindergarten, Charles was an institution in our family. The baby was pulling a Charles when she cried all afternoon.” The meaning of the sentence shows that Laurie’s mom judges not only Charles actions but relating his actions to others when they do wrong.
Next, follows a few more events showing how Laurie’s parents judge Charles, while they are completely ignoring the way how Laurie treats them and uses foul language. Closer to the end of the short story, Laurie’s mom goes to a PTA meeting to meet Charles mother. While looking for his mother, Laurie’s mom is judging all these other women. It states in the text, “At the meeting I sat restlessly, scanning each comfortable matronly face, trying to determine which one hid the secret of Charles. None of them looked to me haggard enough.” Which taken in meaning that none of the mothers looked haggard enough to be the naughty “Charles” mother.
Finally, in the end, Laurie’s mom sits down with his Kindergarten teacher. She explains how much Laurie loves Kindergarten and how he comes home everyday talking about it, not mentioning Charles yet. The teacher responds saying that Laurie had a hard time adjusting the first week but is a “fine little helper” with occasional lapses. Laurie’s mom defends him saying “Laurie usually adjusts very quickly. I suppose this time it’s Charles’s influence.” Instead of Laurie’s mother asking why he hasn’t adjusted very well, she assumes that Charles’s behavior made Laurie adjust slower. The teacher responds, confused, quoting “We don’t have a Charles in Kindergarten.” With this ending the story, the author wants us to learn the lessons “Don’t judge others by what another says” and “Don’t blame others for your actions”
“Charles” is a short story by Shirley Jackson. In the story, a kindergartener named Laurie, makes up a character named Charles, who misbehaves in class, a lot. Laurie tells his parents all about Charles, and all the bad things he does. They then become worried that he is becoming a bad influence on Laurie. When finally given the chance to speak with the teacher, they find out the truth of Charles. I think the author wrote this to show that if you lie, it can come back to hurt you.
ReplyDeleteWhen Laurie started telling his parents all about this kid named Charles, they actually believe him. They find the stories he tells to be quite amusing, and look forward to hearing them each night. “ I was waiting anxiously on the front steps”, Jackson wrote.
They then started to worry that Charles was becoming a bad influence on Laurie. They wanted to meet with his parents and teacher to discuss their issue with Charles. When asked about him, the teacher explains that there is no Charles in their kindergarten class. Which then they realize that Laurie has been the troublemaker all along.
Laurie had kind of brought this whole situation upon himself. He’s the one who made up Charles, and made his parents believe the stories he told. He had made up excuses to make them believe the lie even more. Such as, “... so all the children stayed to watch him.” Jackson wrote when Laurie came home late from school. When Laurie’s parents got worried that Charles was becoming a bad influence on him, they spoke with his teacher as soon as possible. Which is when they find out the truth. Laurie had done all of this for nothing, because his parents soon realized it was actually Laurie who had been doing these bad, and naughty things.
Shirley Jackson also used figurative language to show this theme. She used a lot of imagery to help readers better understand the story, and the message behind it. When waiting to speak with the teacher at the meeting, she had Laurie’s parents use words like matronly, and haggard to describe the looks on other parents faces. Using these words, she clearly shows that the parents are upset about the fact that “Charles” has created this problem.
Although it could be interpreted to show the theme is judgement, it clearly shows honesty. All in all, Laurie had been lying about Charles, and making his parents believe it was Charles who had been doing these bad things. But when they find out Laurie was lying, he could get in even more trouble.
“Charles” is a short story created by Shirley Jackson, it tells us about two children named Charles and Laurie who are kindergarteners. Charles is a misbehaving child. Charles is always getting himself or others in trouble. Everynight Laurie goes home and tells his parents about Charles.
ReplyDeleteCharles is always doing things that is against the the rules. So every night Laurie has a new interesting story since the last. One of the first stories were “Today Charles hit the teacher… “Why did Charles hit the teacher?” I asked quickly “because she tried to make him color with red crayons”” This was the first week of kindergarten. Laurie was telling his mom and dad about everything he did this week. From there the stories just got more intense.
This quickly becomes a “joke” between Laurie’s family. “...The baby was doing a Charles when she cried all night…”. The mom and dad did not know who Charles is, or who his parents are. The adults were going off of what Laurie says, They never talked to a teacher and started to judge Charles.
Parent/Teacher conferences come around, and the mom of Laurie gets more accusative. The first thing she did was try to find Charles parents. “...None of them looked haggard enough…” As soon as she didn’t think anyone would look even close, she asked the teacher. To her surprise no one in the class is named Charles. This part could be interpreted as be honest but it clearly means dont assume things until you know the facts because you never know the outcome. You could be totally wrong and look like a fool, and it could actually be about you.
“Charles” really makes you think on when you have assumed and judged people. Along with when you were wrong about it. The theme was when you make assumptions you make you and whoever you convinced seem rude.
“Charles” is a story by Shirley Jackson, that takes place at Laurie’s school and home. The setting of this book makes it interesting because it talks about a character who doesn’t actually exist. This short story focuses on a kindergartener named Laurie who makes bad decisions in school, and blames it on a made up student. When Laurie’s parents hear stories about “Charles” they immediately judge him of being a bad student. The author uses this to teach us lessons about judgement; don’t judge something or someone without the whole story.
ReplyDeleteFirst, when Laurie returns home from school his parents are always waiting to hear what happened at school. Laurie always replies with Charles got in trouble and had to stay after school again. Because of the stories Laurie tells his parents, they become concerned. This could be interpreted as honesty; however it clearly shows a lack of judgement. The day of the P.T.A meeting Laurie’s parents talked with Laurie’s teacher about what has been going on at school. The whole meeting no one brought up Charles and his behavior. However, what they find out after the meeting suprises them. They find out that there isn’t a Charles in kindergarten and that Laurie wasn’t telling the truth. In fact, the whole time they were focused more on the stories that were told by Laurie, instead of noticing that it was actually Laurie doing the actions.
Although Laurie was lying about Charles to his parents, it’s a good thing that they had the P.T.A meeting because otherwise they wouldn’t have known that Laurie was actually “Charles.” One day at school Laurie told his peers, “Well, Charles was bad again today.” Instead of the students sitting around listening to what he has to say they should ask him nicely to change his attitude towards others. If the students would stand up to Laurie and say could you change the way you interact with others maybe he would take their advice. When the students stay after school to watch “Charles”, it just makes it seem okay for him to keep being disrespectful. Do you think Laurie is being naughty to get attention from his teacher and his friends?
Lastly, Jackson shows imagery in this story to give us an idea of what took place at the P.T.A meeting. The strongest imagery comes from the sentence, “At the meeting I sat restlessly, scanning each comfortable matronly face.” Jackson is showing that Laurie is anxious to see what will happen after the meeting is done. The imagery in this sentence helps us feel the intensity and what it would feel like if we were in Laurie’s shoes.
At the end of the story, Laurie’s parents add, “you must have your hands full in the kindergarten, with Charles” the teacher replies with, “we don’t have any Charles in the kindergarten.” The readers are left wondering what happened to Laurie and if he forgave everyone he was disrespectful to.
“Charles” is a short story by shirley Jackson. The story takes place in a town in the United States. It follows the life of a young boy named Laurie. The reason that the story is so enthralling is because the author makes the reader want to know more about Charles. Charles is a kindergarten student who attends the same school as Laurie. Everyday when Laurie comes home he tells his parents another crazy story about what Charles did that day. The parents started to believe that Charles was a very strange kid. Can you blame them? One day he’s hitting the teacher and the next he’s the teachers little helper. At the end of the story, Laurie’s mother goes to the Parent Teacher Meeting, or PTA meeting, to address Charles, and search for his mother. Where she will finally discover the truth about the real charles. The parents stole the truth from their kindergarten son and not from someone more reliable. The author uses this to sow that you cannot judge a book by it’s cover. Sometimes when we make assumptions, it can cover up the real information and make us and whoever we convinced seem rude.
ReplyDeleteWhen Charles is naughty in class, all of the other students see him as cool and want to exactly like him, according to Laurie. Once during school Charles made such a fuss that it disrupted some of the other classes. Then Charles had to stay after school. Jackson states “... all the children stayed to watch him”. As the story progresses we start to really understand that the children don’t just think that the children don’t just think of him as a leader. When Charles became the teachers little helper we can tell Laurie isn’t happy about it. Jackson states “ Laurie reported grimly at lunch … Charles was so good today the teacher gave him an apple.” To repeat, “ Laurie reported grimly” meaning Laurie was not happy about Charles being good.
After only one week we could tell that Laurie had lost all the energy he had when he was telling his parents about Charles. Whenever he got home from school, for lunch, he was always so sad to say that Charles had been good again. Instead of showing happiness that Charles was, finally, starting to act more nice. It seemed as though Laurie was very sad and unenthusiastic. Had Laurie been able to think more like an adult, he would realize that it was a good thing that Charles was starting to be less naughty.
Although, the students are partially to blame for blindly following Charles lead, the parents, in the story, are also to blame for being to judging and assuming that Charles was always bad. We see that not only do the children think of Charles as a leader but the parents are not actively trying to understand the situation. They actually thought of him as more of a joke and thought it was funny to make jokes about his behavior. Jackson states “ The baby was being a Charles when she cried… Laurie was being a Charles when he filled his wagon full of mud… my husband was being a Charles when he caught his elbow in the telephone cord…” From this we can tell that the parents think that whenever something goes wrong or someone is bad, that it’s Charles fault.
ReplyDeleteThe parents were so blind by Laurie’s funny stories they didn’t even go searching for the truth about Charles. They just assumed he was a bad kid with bad parents at his home. Jackson states “ Scanning each matronly face, trying to determine which one hid the secret of Charles. None of them looked haggard enough…” This made the mother blind to the fact that the truth was right underneath her nose. So when she finally found out the truth she realized that she had made a terrible mistake and felt more rude and at fault, then she had ever felt.
Jackson also uses repetition to show us how blind trust and assumptions can create a wall of lies that we can’t see through. The strongest repetition in the short story would have to be Laurie’s, Charles stories. The stories that he tells to his parents makes them feel as though they know so much about Charles. They feel like they have the right to make assumptions about Charles, and his family, without making certain that the information Laurie was telling them was true. When the stories could have been all lies. This could be thought of as honesty, but it clearly shows a large amount of assumptions being made. We as readers feel as though we know Charles as well, but we don’t actually know anything about him, at all.
“Charles” is a short story by Shirley Jackson. This story takes place in a kindergarten classroom, and Laurie’s home. “Charles” revolves around two kindergarteners, Laurie and Charles. The main center point of this story is to not make assumptions, because it covers the truth and makes you and whoever you convinced seem rude.
ReplyDeleteEveryday when Laurie goes to school, one of his classmates causes a lot of trouble. Charles is the class troublemaker. He does some pretty bad stuff, for example: pounding his feet, hitting a teacher, and even bouncing a see-saw on a girls head. For this reason he faces some consequences such as having to stay inside for recess, having to sit in the corner during reading time, and even having to stay after school. When Laurie gets home from school he tells his parents what Charles did. Day after day Laurie tells his parents what happened. It gets to the point where his parents start to become concerned for their sons well being at school, thinking that Charles is a bad influence.
Laurie’s family automatically assumes that what their son is telling them, is the full truth. They don’t take the time to investigate into what was really going on in Laurie’s classroom. The author dropped subtle hints hinting towards the end of the story. For example: When his mother was asking who the trouble maker was, Shirley Jackson wrote “Laurie thought. ‘it was charles,’ he said”. The author was hinting towards the fact that Laurie had to quickly come up with a name, in order to blame his behaviors on a different person.
Throughout this whole story, his parents believe that their son is a perfect little kindergartener and are happy that this is not their son, until one day at a PTA meeting. Laurie's mom “... sat restlessly, scanning each motronaly face, trying to determine which one hid the secret of Charles.” Shirley Jackson is in other words saying that Laurie’s mother was making assumptions about all the mothers there without knowing anything about them. At the very end of the story, Laurie’s mom went up to the teacher and asked about Charles, only to find out that there is no Charles. Her son, Laurie, has been making up Charles all along. Charles actions are actually her sons.
Well it may be argued that the theme is honesty, it is actually making assumptions. Throughout the whole story, Laurie’s family has been making assumptions about Charles and even parents at the PTA meeting. Shirley Jackson uses literary elements such as imagery to show how Laurie's mom was making assumptions about every parent at the PTA meeting.
In conclusion the theme of “Charles” is to not make assumptions, because it covers the truth, and can make you and whoever you convince seem rude.
“Charles” is a short story by Shirley Jackson, that takes place in England. The story is about a boy in kindergarten named Laurie. He comes home everyday from school, sometimes late, sometimes early. Once Laurie gets home from school he tells his parents about the trouble Charles gets in, Charles is a boy in Laurie’s class that is always getting into some trouble. He tells his parents about the things Charles does at school, but his parents worry and assume right away that he is a horrible kid. Laurie’s parents would make fun of Charles in a way to prove that Laurie is a better student. The author uses this scenario to show that being too confident in something can lead to many and bigger problems in the end.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning, Laurie’s parents never really bothered to know what happened with Charles that day in school; but as Laurie kept talking about him more and more they would ask everyday “What’d he do today?” The parents wanted to know more about Charles than what Laurie was just telling them, like: what he looked like and, what his last name was. As the story progresses they were starting to question if kindergarten was too “unsettling” for Laurie because of Charles and his bad behavior towards the teachers. They started becoming more confident that their son is better than Charles.
Even though Laurie’s parent’s actions weren’t the best with Charles and thinking too highly of themselves, Laurie’s actions weren’t any better. Laurie tells everything about Charles to his parents everyday after school is done and he gets home. He walks in from school, talks about Charles; eating dinner, talk about Charles. After the few days of Laurie talking about Charles he started acting like him at home: “Look up, look down,..., look at my thumb. Gee you’re dumb.”, “Hi Pop, y’old dust mop,”, “...he filled his wagon full of mud and pulled it through the kitchen…”, “...spilled his baby sister’s milk all over…”, and “He came home… front door slamming open,...” Sometimes Charles would be bad in school,and all of the kids in class would stay after school because they were there when it happened.
Shirley Jackson used figurative language to show the theme in his story. One of the major elements to show theme was imagery. “...sat restlessly, scanning each comfortable matronly face,...” describes what Laurie’s mom is doing and how she’s doing it. Laurie’s mom is looking for Charles and his mom from Laurie’s description: “He’s bigger than me,... And he doesn’t have any rubber and he doesn’t ever wear a jacket.” Her looking for them is very nosy of her and is trying to help her see “...which one hid the secret of Charles.”
By showing the theme in the book she also used repetition. Shirley Jackson showed repetition by having Laurie come home every single day after school talking about Charles and how he does something similar everyday. It helps show that it’s important to know and a part of the theme.
At the end of the story, when Laurie’s mom is at the P.T.A. meeting and finds out that Charles isn’t actually who she’s thought it was. Not only did they find out that Charles was someone they knew, but the part where he was their own son being “Charles”.
“Charles” is a short story by Shirley Jackson, this story is about a little boy named Laurie who is in Kindergarten. Everyday he comes home from school and tells his parents about another boy named Charles. Charles is a kid in Laurie’s class that is naughty and fascinates some of the other kids. Laurie’s mom and dad only talk to Laurie about Charles and start getting worried for the kid. His mom got way too worried and went to a PTA meeting to confront Charles's mother. She never was able to talk to Charles's mom, but she did find out that there was no Charles's in the kindergarten. This show that Charles is a made up character for Laurie’s identity. His parents become so immune to Laurie’s stories that all they want to talk about is Charles. The author uses these plots by teaching us to worry about ourselves. Even though you might be worried about others, worry about yourself first.
ReplyDeleteLaurie came home everyday talking about all of the mischief Charles would do. After the first day of school his parents would always ask “What did Charles do today….Why did he hit the teacher?” They would ask these questions every time Laurie would get home from school. Laurie would respond as if it was family time. For this reason his parents don’t realize that only his parents talk about Charles and not him. He didn’t realize that they didn’t care about his day and neither did the parents.
The parents probably would have noticed if only Laurie would notice because he wouldn’t of been as excited as he is. Laurie doesn’t see that his parents only talk about Charles, since Laurie is “Charles” he is basically talking about his day. Laurie also doesn’t see it’s bad because his parents never straight out say that that is bad of him. “Charles's” life and mischief at school grabs his parents attention more than what Laurie’s is. This also can be interpreted as honesty, but it clearly is worry about yourself first.
Laurie changes his actions right when the first day of kindergarten started. On the first day of school his mom walked him to the bus and he didn’t say goodbye as he usually does. He also changed his style in clothes, instead of wearing bibs, blue jeans and a belt. He now wears “Swaggering clothes and long trousers.” When he came home from school he “....slammed the front door open, his cap on the floor…. And shouted Isn’t anybody home!” Laurie also spoke to his father disrespectfully, spilled his baby sisters milk and said that his teacher said we should not say the Lord's name in Vain. These all show that Laurie’s behavior has majorly changed and that his also could be apart of some of Charle’s personality. His parents would have known if they wouldn’t of worries about “Charles” as much.
Laurie always seems to know everything about Charles. He knows very specific details about “What he did during or after school.” Which is a lot of information for a kindergartener. One of Laurie’s behaviors that really was a warning was that Charles came home late from school, but said he stayed after to watch Charles stay after school for getting in trouble by the teacher. His behaviors show the theme because it shoes he’s changed and how he acts like Charles.
Shirley Jackson uses Figurative Language to show the theme. One of the most obvious ones is Imagery. The author really shows how “Charles”(Laurie) acts at school VS. how Laurie acts at home. Another Figurative Language she uses is Repetition. She uses Repetition in a way of more of what the parents say. Like how they always want to know what Charles did not what Lauren did. An example of this is “What did he do today….Why would he do that?” By saying this it shows who really they were worried about and how they didn’t ask what Lauren did today. So, we really know that they weren’t worried about Laurie. Laurie’s parents also show theme because Laurie’s mom tries to go to the PTA meeting and wants to know about Charles.
All in all, Out of my mind is about honesty, but deep down in the text it shows that the theme is to worry about yourself first.
Bad behavior can make people judge you and it can also make you hurt other people around you.
ReplyDeleteCharles by Shirley Jackson is a short story based on a student in kindergarten named Charles, Charles is a bad student who is harmful to other kids, and the teacher in the classroom. This short story is so interesting because everyday Laurie would come home and say bad news about Charles. The characters in this story are Laurie, Laurie’s parents, children from kindergarten, the teacher, and of course Charles. In this short story it mainly focuses on a student names Charles.
Everyday Laurie comes home and tells his parents on what Charles did in school. Charles is a naughty. When laurie comes from school his parents ask on what happened today and Laurie say…. “Charles what bad again” and then Laurie's mom judged Charles because of his bad behavior. The author showed this because bad behavior can cause other people around you to judge and not only judging, but it can also make you hurt others around you too.
Laurie's mom was very judgemental she always judged Charles when he was naught. One day Laurie’s parents when to a pto meeting hoping to run into Charles's mom and to also have a little chat with her about how Charles's is a very naughty student. ..”Scanning each comfortable monitory face,” “None of them looked haggard enough.”Laurie’s mom judged the other moms because they didn't look innocent to her. Although the author is showing judgment she is also showing bad behavior.
Laurie always came home with …”Charles was bad agin.” Laurie always came home with news about Charles. Charles would either slap a teacher, smash a little girl's head in a seesaw, or tell the other students to say naughty words in school, and maybe stay after school. The author also showed was repetition. She did this because she was trying to show what the problem was but in this case it was Charles's and his bad behavior. She also did this to make a point in the story.
In conclusion Charles was judged on and hurt teachers and children in school, during the PTO meeting Laurie's parents also found out who Charles really was.
The story “Charles” by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a boy on his first week of kindergarten. His name, Laurie comes home everyday with some new gossip about this other boy named Charles. He told his parents about this naughty child and they are delighted to wanting to know more.
ReplyDeleteLaurie parents asked how was his day after he comes home from school. Everyday he told something that happened to caused the teacher to spank Charlies. Making his parents to be more curious. Laurie tells them more and more about what he does everyday.
Laurie’s father, went to bent down to his son for some juicy gossip, making his eyes shot wide. With his parents are in delighted about the gossip that they were talking about it. His mother wondered if Charlie's mother knew what his son were doing and if she was angry at him for what he’s done.
The overall of this story that it’s mostly about gossip. Laurie’s parents are in courage of wanting to know more and how naughty the child is. Charlies then became the teacher’s helper for a few days before beginning to act up again. Causing to have a lot more gossip for Laurie to tell his parents.
Charles is a short story by Shirley Jackson which takes place in a New England home/school. The story is very unique, because one boy comes home everyday complaining how bad a boy named Charles was at school. Our story that we read focuses on a 5 year old boy named lauri. Also it focuses on how his mom keeps judging everyone, but she finds out something. That’s how the author shows the theme; Don't judge people before you judge yourself.
ReplyDeleteWhen laurie goes to kindergarten for his first day, he started to act a lot different when he came home. “He came home the same way… and then his voice suddenly became raucous shouting. Isn’t anybody here!” In other words, laurie came home acting very rude to his parents everyday. He started to act so mean insulting his father, and then spilling his baby sister’s milk on purpose. Everyday he started to come home telling more and more bad stuff of wh
At this boy Charles did at school. Then all of the sudden everything changed, and then he came home telling how good charles was at school that day. Also he started to act very good at school like him.
Laurie’s parents acting very immature about the whole situation. They started to make fun of the bad behavior that charles was doing. They also thought that their was so perfect.
When laurie's mom went to the PTA meetings she was judging literally everyone there. She didn’t even take in any chance that her son was actually charles! Also, they didn’t even take in how mean charles was everyday, ” Gee your and then began to laugh insanely.” He kept saying rude things, and kept being mean to his parents. Laurie said that to his dad, and he didn't even care at all!
This book also uses figurative language to show judgment. When laurie’s mom was at the PTA meeting she said, “ Isat reslessy, scanning each comfortable matronly face” In other words, she was checking for any worries looking faces but didn’t find any. The author uses imagery to put that image in your head and see how she actually looked like ALso, if your view the other parents view the other parents perspective when laurie’s mpm was judging everyone. She look very worried like “charles” parents would have looked like if they were there. Also this story has exregation, because every time laurie cames home he explains how bad charles was, but a little bit too much. Also, he yells, and yells for no reason.
All in all, don't judge people before you judge yourself. At the end it could be interpreted as being honest, because they find out that laurie is charles, but it clearly shows that judge yourself before judging is better. It show this, by laurie’s mom being very surprised and never even thought about it that laurie could have been charles.
Charles by shirley jackson is a book about a kid named Laurie the whole book revolves around him telling lies to his parents and the result of all his lies.The three important characters in this story are the parents Laurie and the teacher who all have an influence about what goes on in the story which makes me feel like being honest to others is an important theme in this story since it shows that lies do have consequences and can affect others.
ReplyDeleteThe people that were most affected were the parents,since charles started school he had come back everyday with a story to tell about Charles the lies that Laurie told them made them start to think wow the parents of charles must be horrible people”none of them look haggard enough to me.”She said while trying to find out who the mother of charles was she started judging people and thinking bad thoughts about others because of the lies that her child told her.
Laurie the child is one of the most important characters in the story he’s the one who tells the lies the one who is charles and causes others to act in a bad way.Laurie came back one day from school and made up charles he then told his parents about charles his parents seemed really interested which then ended up causing him to do more and more horrible things he didn’t want to get in trouble so he just kept charles around.His parents would never know and the teacher would never tell.
The teacher was also big part in this story since she was the one who saw this happening and never did much about she never called home to the parents maybe she thought that the kid would come home and tattle on himself.The teacher did give him a couple of punishments to try and make him act better but i feel like the teacher could have helped more by trying to have a conference with the parents or calling home they could have addressed the issue and done something about it to help improve Laurie’s behavior.
In the end Laurie’s behavior was the one that caused so many problems to happen since he lied to others influencing them and their thoughts this made me feel that being honest was a very important theme in the story being honest also created the story which makes me feel that in the end being honest is what matters.