Share your literary essay with the rest of the students that chose this short story. Take some time to read 2 or 3 other essays. Comment on them. Your comment should be about something you noticed them doing well from our lessons. For example, "You did a really good job explaining your evidence"
Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds is a story about a boy and a girl named Dante and shay. These two are dating; they have been friends for a long time since they were kids. One day Shay has to leave Dante to go to a whole different state and city. Making their relationship come to the end or making it a long distance relationship.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to buy you a plain ticket or even a whole plane and this house so that we can live in it. Then, Shay just knotted and Dante responded what you don't believe me? She was like i don't wanna think of that right now. Dante asks why he can't give shay a eraser tattoo. Then, she replied two reasons, one because she is too pretty and that her dad would kill him for marking his daughter. Then the story cuts to when dante first asked her out but she replied ”no doubt homie” and a pinch on dante's this means that she didn't really know her feelings for dante so she just said something that came to her mind.
The main symbol is that the eraser tattoo itself could represent a lot of things but I feel that it represents that Donte will always have a scar now of his girlfriend but his girlfriend refused to get one. This could mean that his girlfriend doesnt really love him.
When I get rich and famous for building bridges I will build a bridge all the way her to williamton. “He knew that the sting wouldn't last forever but the scar would. Another one is Dante asking where she is going. It implies that he will miss her and that he would like to visit her some time in the future.
Just because you love someone alot doesn't mean that they love you with the same amount. This is the overall theme that I came up with. Although it could be argued that the theme is just because you have something doesn't mean that it will last forever. The text states “when I get rich and famous for building bridges I will build you one from here all the way to Wilmington.” but Shay responded or you can just buy me a plane ticket.” hinting at dante would do a lot just for her but she doesn't really want that. This sentence shows and is more so on the side just because you love someone doesn't mean that they love you with the same amount.
I like how you talked about how the tattoo could be a symbol itself.
DeleteI really like your counter argument, you go in depth about the other theme but then explain why yours is better
DeleteIn overall great essay.
DeleteI really enjoyed reading your essay and the overall theme you had for your story I agreed with.
Deleteyou did a GREAT job on your conclusion and your symbol
DeleteYour essay is really interesting, but my over all favorite is your theme and how you supported it.
Delete“Eraser Tattoo” Is a short story about Shay and Dante, a teenage couple who are about to be split apart because Shay is moving. They decide that Shay will give Dante an Eraser Tattoo on their last day together. While Dante gets the Tattoo he tells Shay that he should give her one too while she just ignores the question coming up with excuses of why she can’t. She keeps bringing up the fact that the relationship probably won’t work out and that she doesn’t want the permanent reminder of the relationship. Showing that, Loyalty can't be one sided if you want a relationship to work.
ReplyDeleteShay and Dante talk a lot about their relationship and Dante shows his loyalty by getting the tattoo even though it hurts, Shay asks Dante “Am I not worth the pain.” and Dante says, “Whatever, Shay. Ain’t like you getting my initial.” showing that Dante is being very loyal to Shay and she shows none back to him. Shay says excuses throughout the story like “Then I gotta have that ugly D on my arm forever” acting like she doesn’t need to show her loyalty like Dante, he says, “And i’m gonna have this S, so.” explaining how much Dante wants her to do the same and Shay doesn’t want to get the eraser tattoo of his first initial which is what she expects Dante to do; out of love, loyalty, and trust.
Shay and Dante do a lot to show their loyalty towards each other but it seems like Dante is the only one that's actually loyal. For example, Shay asks Dante to get an eraser tattoo with her initial but she wont get one of his even once he asks her to. Whereas this could be seen as losing someone you love; it is clearly a sign of loyalty because, Shay also comes up with random reasons why she can’t; like the risk of getting an infection and the fact that her dad would be mad at them both for “Marking her.” Showing her lack of loyalty towards Dante. Throughout the story Dante goes through getting the eraser tattoo to show his loyalty to Shay, Dante goes through all the pain and She never shows any loyalty back to him.
Another way that they show loyalty is through symbolism the tattoo that Dante gets is a symbol of his loyalty to Shay, and Shay refusing to get a tattoo as well is a symbol that she is not loyal to Dante. In other words Dante has a lot of loyalty towards Shay, and she has almost no loyalty towards him. At this point in the story it could be thought that the tattoo was a symbol of friendship; but it is more likely to be loyalty because Shay shows how unloyal she is to Dante by putting him through getting the tattoo and not getting one in return. Showing that it can’t be friendship because the friendship that they did share is breaking apart at this point.
They also show loyalty through repetition, Dante keeps asking Shay why she won’t get the tattoo just like him; she never answers him she just says she can’t, and that he should be real because the relationship won’t work out. Therefore, Shay thinks that the tattoo is meaningless and the relationship will not work out in the end and Dante is getting the tattoo through what he thinks is loyalty and she thinks is a pointless action.
In conclusion one of the themes of “Eraser Tattoo” is loyalty, you first see it in the beginning when Dante lets Shay give him an Eraser Tattoo, even though it hurts; it is seen throughout the story as they begin to argue about why Shay won’t let Dante give her one to show her loyalty. In the end of the story Dante has asked Shay over and over again why she won’t get a tattoo as well and she never explains herself clearly. With all of this said I think that the main theme of “Eraser Tattoo” is Loyalty, because it shows Dantes Loyalty to Shay which is not seen both ways.
I like how you talk about the loyalties between the two characters for the theme
DeleteI liked how you used evidence to prove your theme
DeleteI liked how you talked a lot about loyalty
DeleteI liked how you used both, symbolism and repetition, to help explain the theme of the story.
DeleteI liked how you backed up your evidence with explained reasoning and used a ;
DeletePart One
ReplyDelete“Eraser Tattoo” is a short story by Jason Renolyds that takes place in a New York City Apartment Building. What makes this story unique is that Shay, one of the main characters, erases a “S '' into Dante’s (her boyfriend’s) arm. The short story focuses on the Girlfriend (Shay) and the Boyfriend (Dante). Shay finds out that she is moving away and she doesn't want to lose Dante, so she decides to Erase a letter “S '' into his arm without even asking him or wanting his opinion on how he feels. The Author uses 3 main craft moves to create the theme: Symbolism, Dialogue, and Figurative Language. The author uses the main craft moves to teach us about the lesson love; It hurts when you love someone but they don’t love you.
However, Dante and Shay’s love is tested when Shay has to move away. When Dante finds out that Shay has to leave, I think that The eraser tattoo is a symbol of Shay making a mark in Dante’s arm; a memory will always be there as well as the love and the pain. When Shay is making a mark in Dante's, she exclaims that she wants to erase an “S” into Dante’s arm so he will remember him.
Shay glanced up at him with sadness, a dim shooting star in her eyes. She blinked it arvay "Right now, I just want to think about burning my initial ilaro your arrn."
"Yeah.. . and, just so you know.. . um . . . it's starting to burn."
'Am I not worth the pain?" Shay tightened her face, cut her eyes at Dante playfully.
This could be interpreted as creating a theme of loyalty; however, it clearly created the theme of It hurts when you love someone but they don’t love you because when Shay leaves a mark in Dante’s arm she is just focused on giving him the tattoo instead of asking what he feels about the tattoo. Dante will always remember that pain she caused him every time he looks down at his arm, and the fact that Shay didn’t let Dante erase his initials into her arm makes it even worse. He felt pain and she didn’t and I don't think that is loyalty.
The Dialogue in Eraser Tattoo shows that Shay doesn't really care about Dante when she explains what would happen if they broke up.
“What if we break up, Not that we will or that i want that, but what if we do Then i have an ugly D in my are forever”
I really liked how when you put down Girlfriend and Boyfriend in your essay right next to it you put in parenthesis Shay and Dante so it helped more people who your talking about
DeleteI liked how you explained things more in depth so people who haven't read the story can have a better understanding.
DeletePart 2
ReplyDeleteAnd when Shay is makeing the mark in Dante’s arm and he says “It hurts Shay, it hurts” she doesn't stop rubbing the eraser.
In the short story there is a Metaphor that tells how Dante feels “It’s like she is trying to Strike a Match on my flesh.” He explains how much it hurts and Shay just keeps going, not even considering his feelings. I think that Shay really has feelings deep down for Dante, but since she is moving away i think she has hidden those feelings and is acting brave; and making sure Dante will remember him. I wonder if she is afraid of commitment because she gives Dante a tattoo but she doesn't get one. Is she afraid of commitment?
One of the things that makes a picture in my head is when Shay erases an “S” into Dantes arm. Shay is a few days from moving away and she suggests that Dante should buy her a plane ticket. She specifically says “Or you could just buy me a plane ticket.” Shay chucked and started again with the eraser. This makes me think that she was just using him. This sentence is super important though. Because it shows that Dante doesn't really want to buy her a plane ticket and she says “Buy me a plane ticket” and I think that she means that in a really Sarcastic way. And Shay is probably thinking “If he loves me he will buy me a plane ticket” She doesn't consider his feelings and how he feels about this.
Clearly, the theme of Eraser Tattoo is that it hurts when you love someone but they don’t love you back. This is first seen when the author used the quote “Shay glanced up at him with sadness, a dim shooting star in her eyes. She blinked it arway Right now, I just want to think about burning my initial ilaro your arrn." Shay says excitedly
"Yeah.. . and, just so you know.. . um . . . it's starting to burn." Dante says
'Am I not worth the pain?" Shay tightened her face, cut her eyes at Dante playfully.
This Quote is a form of Symbolism. This Quote explains that when Dante said that the “rubbing of the eraser started to hurt” he told Shay that and she proceeded to erase his skin. The eraser is a symbol of Remembering who left the mark, so no matter what Date will always remember Shay Next, the theme was created when the author used The Dialogue that sounded like they were arguing and fighting. The Dialogue explains that they were both feeling emotions that they didn’t like and didn’t know how to deal with. Finally, the author used figurative language to create the theme. Readers saw this when Shay says “Am i not worth the pain” that makes me think she doesn't really care about Dante, but Dante really cares about her. As a result, it is evident that the theme of Eraser Tattoo is It hurts when you love someone but they don’t love you back.
You have very good dialogue and its give good evidence Good job 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍
DeleteI liked how you focused a lot on the feelings of the characters.
Delete“Eraser Tattoo” is a short story written by Jason Reynolds. This story takes place in an apartment building. 2 kids, Dante and Shay are in love but one of them has to leave. Shay is moving and she is giving Dante an eraser tattoo for him to remember there love. In the beginning of the story, there love was somewhat mutual but you can clearly see at the end it’s not and the love isn’t going both ways. The author wrote this to show a lesson that love goes both ways. She is giving him a tattoo because she is worried that he will forget her but I think that the hidden message is the she is secretly is going to forget him and leave him miserable. My thoughts were there was a cause that they didn’t show but instead showed the effects.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that is very noticeable is the dialogue in this piece.
Talking about if they break up and what will happen when they aren’t together, but this is going to be the reality because she is moving. “Am I not worth the pain?” Shay tighten her face.” When you think about this you either think, is she kidding or is she being serious? With something like that it almost makes you feel like there love isn’t going to last. You can see that what they are trying to say without them actually saying it by the tone in there voice or the body language with it. Love goes both ways and they both aren’t pulling there weights. Someone is doing more and the other one is just letting out slack. She asked him if she wasn’t worth the pain but honestly I think that she isn’t worth the pain. She is giving him a tattoo but he doesn’t get to give her one? Another quote with really good dialogue and goes with my first quote was, “But… what if we do? Then I gotta have that ugly D on my arm forever.” This sends you one message, is she afraid of commitment, or she knows that they won’t last forever, but she is almost trying to make the pain last forever. Almost like she doesn’t care as much as he does, right? She is saying that she shouldn’t have to look an ugly D like he will have to look at the S.
Character Action is also another big thing to look at in short stories like this. Actions of a person can tell you a lot about and they life. Just how they act can sometimes show there past, present and sometimes even the future. “Which is why this is so funny- the girl who taught me how to tie my shoes so I wouldn’t hurt myself is now.. hurting me.” Is it really funny or are you afraid of what might happen in reality. She is actually hurting him and he just can’t see it. This is saying that she solved his problems and is now going to open them back up. “Don’t try to get out of this, Dante,” she scolded, releasing his face. “Gimme your arm.” She grabbed him by the wrist, yanked his arm straight.” In these quotes, I saw 2 things. You can see that clearly that she is going to break his heart and he is just going to let it happen but before she can do that she has to claim her property. You can see that they love is different from each other because he has fallin much deeper then she has and the both of them are okay with it. Nowadays, they would call that a toxic relationship.
My last supporting detail is figurative language. “She flashed a sad grin. One of loss and love. One of understanding.” When it says one of understanding, does that mean that they both agreed to break up? This could be interpreted as creating a theme of loyalty; however, it clearly created a theme of love doesn’t go both ways because you can see that the tattoo is only causing more pain to the both of them and making it harder then it has to be. They both understood that it was best? I mean after all she didn’t get a tattoo, but he did? Now he is going to have to live with it for the rest of his life and she will move on faster then the wind. Another quote from the story showing repetition was,“I love you.” It slipped easily from his lips. Like breathing. Like usual.” With this quote, it stood out to me because they and basically repeating themselves. Trying to draw your attention to the fact that they won’t be able to kiss anymore because and it won’t be like usual. This is grabbing pain for the both of them and making it harder then it has to be.
ReplyDeleteFinal thoughts, This was the last thing the story said and the last thing I’m going to leave you with. At the end of the story the last thing he said was, “He knew the sting wouldn’t last forever. But the scar would.” These last words are very powerful. This shows that the characters have developed because in the beginning they didn’t believe it was reality and now they have realized that they aren’t going to last forever; This is for the best. The scar of the relationship would be with him forever but the sadness wouldn’t. We all feel pain but pain goes away. It may break you into a million pieces but you have to build yourself back up. As you can see there love didn’t go both ways.
I really liked how you ended your essay by talking about the last words of the story and what they meant.
DeleteI liked how you used body language and the characters actions to help support the theme.
DeleteI liked how you went into depth while talking about dialogue, character actions, and figurative language.
DeleteI really liked when you wrote something down from the story you put how that relates to you theme and really being able to point out your theme
DeleteI liked how you talked about the metaphor "It was like she is trying to strike a match on my flesh." and asked if she was afraid of commitment.
ReplyDelete“Eraser Tattoo” is a short story by Jason Reynolds that takes place at the house Shay is moving out of. Shay and Dante are the main characters and Shay is about to move to Wilmington, North Carolina. To remind themselves of each other Shay gives Dante an eraser tattoo. As the story goes on, we learn that Shay might not actually love Dante. This is where the theme “it is hard to love someone who doesn’t love you back” starts showing.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, there are a lot of times that Shay shows that she might not actually love Dante anymore. “Shay picked up her thought. ‘Let’s be real,’ she said. ‘What if we break up?’ And before Dante could interject with all the reasons they wouldn’t, and why would you even think like that, Shay added, ‘Not that we will or that I want that, because I don’t. But… What if we do? Then I gotta have that ugly D on my arm forever.’” In this part you can tell that maybe she’s losing interest in the relationship since she is moving away; that is why Shay mentions breaking up. Dante gets confused like why would she say such a thing?! Long distance relationships are hard to keep going since you can’t see each other or hangout . However, she also calls his initial ugly, and that has me wondering, if she did love him still why would she call his initial ugly?
On the other hand, Dante shows a lot of love for Shay even if she doesn’t love him back. He obviously loves her if he’s letting her hurt him by giving him an eraser tattoo. He even helps her family pack for moving. He brings up happy memories they made together and when he told her that his arm hurt she told him that she was worth the pain. There’s times when she practically ignores him. “‘I'm gonna buy you a plane ticket. Shoot, I might just buy you a whole plane. And this house so we can live in it.’ Shay nodded but didn’t respond. ‘You don’t believe me?’” If she truly loved him, why would she be ignoring him? There was also one time when Shay brought up the thought of breaking up with Dante; Dante thought she was crazy for mentioning that.
Overall, all of these quotes lead up to the theme “it is hard to love someone who doesn’t love you back” because of how much Shay shows repetitiveness of possibly not loving Dante. With all the times Dante shows that he loves Shay, even loving her enough to let her give him an eraser tattoo. She just repays him by doing three things: calling his initial ugly, mentioning the fact about breaking up, and ignoring him. After all this, he still shows love to her. I think she is losing feelings because of moving and the fact that long distance relationships are pretty hard to maintain. I think Dante also knew that Shay might break up with him. When he says this at the end, “He knew the sting wouldn’t last forever. But the scar would.” Really puts to mind that he loved her enough to let her put a permanent scar on his arm; she just repaid that by trying to break up.
Finally, I also think that the symbol of this story would be the eraser tattoo. It could symbolize being scared to fall out of love. Dante is scared of Shay breaking up with him. They’ve known each other forever and losing someone you’ve known for a really long time is hard. So that is why I think Dante let Shay give him the tattoo. Shay didn’t let Dante give her a tattoo and I think that it is because Shay isn’t scared to break up because she doesn’t love him anymore. I say this because there are many times she shows no love for him at all.
Although, it might be interpreted as Shay just losing feelings throughout the story, it actually reveals that she never loved him at all. She avoids bringing up most memories with him or just shrugs them off when Dante brings them up. If she truly loves him why would she just brush off the memories they had together? She even mentions breaking up with him; Dante just calls her crazy. This is why I think that Shay never truly had strong feelings for Dante.
I like how you talked about how Shay might have lost feelings for Dante and used that as the main theme.
DeletePart 1
ReplyDelete“Eraser Tattoo” is a short story by Jason Reynolds. It tells the story of Dante and Shay on the day Shay moves away. Dante is heartbroken, but Shay seems like she does not care. Dante is showing a lot of emotion, and Shay is barely showing any. Dante wants to give each other tattoos with an eraser so that they could be together forever. Shay was up to putting the tattoo on Dante, but once she noticed that she was not really in love with Dante, she wasn’t feeling up to doing the tattoo anymore. The story teaches us that it’s really hard to lose someone you love and realize that they don’t really love you back.
The first way that Reynolds shows us that it hurts to lose someone you love is with dialogue. We see when this hurts when Dante says to Shay, “I’m gonna buy you a plane ticket. Shoot, I might just buy you a whole plane. And this house so we can live in it.” “you don’t believe me?” Shay then responds with, “I do but I just don’t think about all that”. This shows that it hurts because Dante is thinking about all the things he is going to do in the future with Shay. Shay’s response shows that she is not thinking about a future with Dante as much as Dante is.
Another piece of dialogue that shows that losing someone you love hurts happens when Shay speaks to Dante. Shay said “Shay picked up her thought “Let's be real” shay said “what if we break up” and before Dante could interject with all the reasons they wouldn’t, and why would you even think like that, shay added, “Not that we will or that I want that, because I don’t But . . . what if we do?” Then I gotta have that ugly D on my arm forever,” “and i’m gonna have this S, so . . .” “yeah but at least you’ll be able to tell people it’s a snake or something.”
In the story, Jayson Reynolds uses memories that the characters share to show how much it hurts to lose someone you love. He highlights how much they used to love each other. One memory he shared was, “Hurt?” shay asked slyly.”a little,” Dante lied. It hurt like hell. Like someone was trying to strike a match on his flesh. He glanced down at his arm, the eraser rolling back the brown as Shay started on the curve. “You don’t gotta lie. Remember who you talkin’ to. The girl who healed your boo-boos when we were kids“. This memory clearly shows how much it hurts because Dante and Shay we burning off there skin with an eraser before Shay had to move away from Dante, so they could put there first letter of there name on each other so they would always remember each other and they would see if they will always love each other, But I think Dante was more into it than Shay was.
Another memory that was shared happened when Dante thought shay didn’t love Dante back after Dante said I love you and Shay said No doubt homie. This second memory was, “It’s always been me and you, and so for you to, like, try to make it us, well, that was a little weird for me at first. But after we walked away from each other, what happened?”. ”Well I was crushed”. “No you weren’t!”. “Oh yes I was. But then you ran up behind me and pinched me on the butt, and I knew you loved me too.” “yeahhhhhhh.” Shay howled. “And that is what you call game“. Just like the first memory, this memory shows how much it hurts because At first Dante thought that Shay didn’t love him back but then later found out that she actually does after she pinched Dante in the butt.
Part 2
ReplyDeleteA final way Jayson Reynolds created the theme was through the use of symbolism. During the story, Dante is given a painful eraser tattoo from Shay. This tattoo is a symbol. It means Shay was willing to hurt Dante by putting that tattoo on him but Shay wasn’t really feeling up to letting Dante hurt her by putting a tattoo her because Shay didn’t really love Dante anymore and it was Dante idea to do the tattoo with eraser and Shay was kinda up to it at first but then Shay started to notice that she didn’t really love Dante anymore.
Clearly, the theme of “Eraser Tattoo“ is losing someone you love. This is first seen when the author used dialogue. When they talked, Shay acted like she didn’t really care about Dante. Dante was freaking out and saying all of these things about moving, but Shay didn’t seem like she was acting out as much as he was.. Next, the theme was created when the author used memories. Memories showed the theme because Dante was bringing up a lot of things they did in the past like how much he loved her and what they did when they were kids. Finally, the author used figurative language to create the theme. Readers saw this when Shay is giving Dante the tattoo. As a result, it is evident that the theme of “Eraser Tattoo“ is losing someone you love.
over all you have a good essay and I like how you presented facts about what you thought was the theme
DeleteI loved how you talked about the memories they had
DeleteI liked how you could clearly see the theme and how it was explained
ReplyDeleteEraser Tattoo is a short story by Jason Reynolds. It takes place in Brooklyn, New York where we see a couple who are spending their last days together for a while because the girl is moving to Wilmington, North Carolina. What takes place in the moment is that Dante is helping his girlfriend Shay move. And they’ve decided to give each other Eraser Tattoo’s. However, Shay doesn’t get one. However, Dante does? That is why my claim is that one sided relationships tend to not work out.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I’m going to talk about some character actions that help support my claim. Part of the reason that I’ve chosen this particular reason to be my claim is because I believe that Dante loves Shay, but Shay has been losing feelings for Dante. And there are a lot of actions that show that. Such as when Dante and Shay are talking throughout the story and Dante seems to keep bringing up their past and talking about the good memories they had before Shay moves. However, Shay seems to choose to ignore those and doesn’t go into more depth with those conversations. Another character action is when Dante slightly hints at questions to Shay if she loves him, but doesn’t fully ask that question. And Shay seems to always shut him down and switches to a new topic instantly. There’s a specific line where Dante goes “And this house so we can live in it. Shay nodded but didn’t respond.” That line makes it seem more and more that Shay doesn’t feel the same way for Dante. Also, Shay seems to get more and more aggressive with the tattoo which could show signs of her being ticked off, but it could also be how you have to make the tattoo.
Now, I’m going to talk about the dialogue in this story that helps support my claim. There is a very good paragraph that helps support this claim entirely. And I could use just this paragraph for this whole paragraph. So the line is this “Shay picked up her thought. Let’s be real, she said What if we break up? And before Dante could interject with all the reasons they wouldn’t and why would you even think like that, Shay added, Not that we will. But what if we do? Then I gotta have that ugly D on my arm forever.” This whole part in the story is golden for my claim. It shows what she's thinking and what she is thinking is she wants to break up with Dante. And she’s trying to see if Dante feels the same way who obviously doesn’t. What would have made this story better is if they had broken up. A question I’ve had is who would’ve been more heartbroken? Dante or Shay? Because the next line that I’m going to share is the reason I’ve got mixed feelings about who loves one another. The line goes, “How about…. You remember when you told me you loved me? The first time?” Why would Shay bring this up if she didn’t still love Dante? The final subtopic to help support my claim is figurative language. Which involve symbolism and imagery. The symbolism in this story is the eraser tattoo. And Dante is the only one to get one, and Shay doesn’t. The author also does a great way of describing what the tattoo looks like, with this. “Dante glanced down at the S on his arm again. The burn. White where brown used to be.” Which also ties into imagery. And imagery is shown while the author describes the burn on Dante, how Shay’s apartment looks on the outside, and what the natural scene of Brooklyn looks like.
At this moment, it certainly could be said the author created a theme of one sided relationships that tend not to work. While this is a good point, it fails to account for love and acceptance. This can be seen in the last paragraph. “Not exactly. Dante forced a smile and told Shay to call him when she got there.” As a result, the theme is love and acceptance. But it could be one sided relationships that tend not to work.
You did a really good job on the conclusion
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete“Eraser Tattoo” is a short story by Jason Reynolds that takes place in Brooklyn. The report talks about these two kids named Shay and Dante Shay is moving away from Dante and she wants to put on an eraser tattoo on him. An eraser tattoo is a thing you do with a pencil to make a scar. All he wants to do is be with her and nothing else in the story.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I chose one-sided is that his girlfriend only is thinking about herself in the story therefore was not worried about him. The other thing is she was also only worried about what would happen if they would break up. The only thing he was worried about was how he would get to her and be with her. She also wanted to worry about putting the S on his arm and not worry about how much pain he was going through when she did it.
This could be interpreted as the author creating a theme of love and acceptance. While that is a really good one-sided is better because it actually talks about how she only wants to think about herself.
The actions in the book are her drawing the S onto his arm, but she would not him put an H onto her arm. The reason that she is putting the S onto his arm is that she is moving away and she wants to claim him as hers. She wouldn't let him put an H on his arm because she is worried about what would happen if they broke up. That is the biggest thing, they were worrying about, and nothing else during the story.
The symbol in the story is the S because that is what they keep on talking about throughout the story. The repetition in the story is he keeps on asking her if she actually even loves him she will not even give him a straight answer to his question.
At the end of my story, his girlfriend moves away. At the end of the story we never find out if they stay together long distance or after a while, they break up. If they did break up he would have the scar on his hand for the rest of his life and will always have the memory.
I like this essay. And the way you went into detail in each paragraph.
ReplyDelete(part one)
ReplyDelete“Eraser Tattoo" is a short story by Jason Reynolds that takes place on the last day a couple spend living near each other. Dante and Shay are sitting down talking to each other while Shay gives Dante a tattoo of her initial using an eraser. While her family packs up their stuff to move, the new homeowners are already moving their things in; showing a sign of change. However, the real change that happens more or so is how the signs of unrequited love get more evident, and how Dante cares more than Shay. The author uses this to teach us lessons about unrequited love; and how it can exist and affect many people and relationships.
When Dante and Shay are hanging out with each other for the last time, they both treat each other with acts of love, but Dante shows it way better than Shay does. Shay seems like she cares a lot more than her actions genuinely show she does. Sure, Shay kisses him but right after uses it to give him the eraser tattoo. “He was doing his best not to quit, to keep his word and go through with this even though he was regretting more and more each second.” As a result of this thought, he feels less loved by Shay.
Dante and Shay communicate with each other a lot throughout the short story. Dante says “Ain’t like you getting my initial, so don't give me that.” and Shay responds with “Come on, Dante. Let’s be real.” That’s not all of it though. Right after, “Let’s be real” she said “What if we break up?” This shows the theme because this isn’t really something you bring up on the last day you’re hanging out with someone you love. Unlike Shay, Dante is more loving with his words also. “Um… love is a strong word. He likes you, sometimes, but he loves me.” said Shay, to which Dante responded with “Not like I do.” Which shows he’s doing anything for her love even though she will not do the same, this represents the theme pretty good. Although it could be argued that the theme is simply love, rather than a one sided-type love, the text actually says “"What if we break up? ..... Not that we will or that I want that, because I don't. But... what if we do? Then I gotta have that ugly D on my arm forever."”. So the theme of this short story is most definitely unrequited love because of how Dante is willing to do almost anything for Shay, risk an infection to get a silly tattoo, and a whole lot of other things. However, Shay doesn’t really show that she would do the same.
(part two)
ReplyDeleteBeyond just Dante and Shay’s actions and words, there’s a lot of figurative language in this story. A moment of symbolism is actually the tattoo that Shay is giving Dante throughout the story. To mirror that, I feel another symbol would be the D tattoo, although it doesn't exist. It shows how willing Dante is to do anything for Shay, but how Shay would not do the same for him. Moving along, Dante and Shay talk about their relationship a lot throughout the story, and signify a sense of repetition. However there’s a pattern to it. If you pay attention and analyze the text more, you’ll see that Dante talks more about the present and his love for her. Shay talks more about the past and things revolving around them breaking up. Now, what comes to your mind when you read this? “Dante let those worlds slip from his lips effortlessly, like breathing. He’d told Shay that he loved her a long time ago, back when they were five years old and she taught him how to tie his shoes. Before then, he’d just tuck in the laces until they worked their way up the sides, slowly crawling out like worms from wet soil, which would almost always lead to Dante tripping over them, scraping his knees, floor or ground burning holes in his denim. Mrs. Davis, their teacher, would clean the wounds, apply the Band-Aid that would stay put only until school was over. Then Dante would slowly peel it off because Shay always needed to see it, white where brown used to be, a blood speckled boo-boo waiting to be blown. Kissed.” I feel like this paragraph of imagery helps you see more into the unrequited love theme, this paragraph of just how Dante thinks about Shay, but so in detail and it feels as if it was ripped right out of his brain.
Clearly, the theme of “Eraser Tattoo“ is unrequited love. This is first seen when the author used character actions to show how Dante and Shay treated each other, how Dante showed his love way more than Shay and how Shay would often blow it off. Next, the theme was created when the author used dialogue to show how Dante and Shay would communicate with each other. Dante found many different ways to express his love for Shay with words, and would repeatedly say it in different ways. Finally, the author used figurative language to create the theme. Readers saw this with the imagery used, the repetition, as well as the symbolism. As a result, it is evident that the theme of “Eraser Tattoo” is unrequited love