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"
Everyone should advocate for themselves. In the short story, Grace, by Darice Littlebadger. Grace is a Lipan Apache who had just moved from the Sioux land to the Paiute land. She was a new girl at school who had joined the chess club. Then she played a kid named Brandon who had questioning manners. However, it all went south after Brandon won on a “technicality" in chess and learned to kiss her. The author shows how Grace advocates for herself on multiple occasions through: character action, character change, and figurative language.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time the readers see the character's action, she wants to advocate for herself by pulling away, Grace stating, “I tried to pull away, but Brandon's grip tightened.” Did Brandon know what he was doing was wrong? Or did he think it was ok? Either way, Brandon was shocked by such advocacy and stormed off. Brandon hadn’t talked to her since and had moved to his other friends when it came time for group projects.
The second time the readers see character action is when their math teacher, Ms. Welton, decides to partner them up together. Grace was not ok with this and decided to go up to the teacher and ask for a new partner. The teacher, however, had other plans, she claimed that “In the real world, you need to associate with all kinds of people.” Grace, who was very annoyed, thought “Did she think that everyone younger than eighteen lived in a simulation?” She then leaned in and continued in an almost-whisper like voice “Brandon tried to kiss me, and I said no. Now he's treating me like garbage.” Thanks to her actions, Ms. Welton never partnered them up together ever again.
Thanks to Grace’s advocacy, the readers saw her character had changed quite a bit from the story's beginning. Before, the readers saw she wasn’t as speaking and social which didn’t get her a lot of friends. However, after advocating for herself twice. Grace learned that she also has a voice. They never bothered her again for the rest of the year and she was happy she was going to be closer to home. While others may argue that Hope is the main theme of the story because she keeps talking about trying to go home. Advocacy is the main theme, for the author, who shows the reader she stands up for herself on multiple occasions and uses her voice.
The theme of Grace is advocacy. The first time we see this is when the author uses Character action. We see Grace stand up for herself against Brandon and Ms. Welton. Next, the theme was created when the author used character change. They did this by making her less confident and timid yet she found her strength and spoke up for herself. Finally, the author used figurative language to create the theme. Readers saw this when she said, “Brandon tried to kiss me, and I said no. and now he treats me like garbage.” and “Did she think that everyone younger than eighteen lived in a simulation?” As a result, it is evident that the theme of Grace is advocacy.
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ReplyDeleteIn the short story, Grace by Darice Little Badger, the story is about Grace is a girl from Texas and she was moved out of the places and now she going to find away back home. Darice Little Badger wants to let the reader know that hope that she can go home to Texas and to her people.
ReplyDeleteSome major events in the short story were that she mention that her family never stayed anywhere for more than a couple of years. ¨We didn't stay on Sioux land long. My family never stayed anywhere for more than a couple years.” Grace did not feel like she belong, she was the new kid every year and that no one was like her. Another event that takes place is that Grace gets hope of going home. She also mentions her earliest memory is the feeling of cold. Her family didn't stay long on Ojibwe land.
One of the symbolism of this story is that hope is equal to home. Grace is trying to get back home to her mom is hope is equal to home. ¨My mama wore her finest traditional regalia, a bright yellow camp dress and a pink shawl with yellow fringe.¨ Graceś family left her home because of the government. Ever since then her family has been trying to go home.
The authors uses figurative language in the short story Grace by, “we gotta live like a pair of dandelion fluffs in the wind and drift around until the day comes to settle and grow.” What the author is saying is that it takes time to get what you want, that you have to be patient. Although it could be argued that the lesson is to work hard to get back to where you feel you belong, the text actually says, ¨´We have a home?¨ I asked. ¨Always. But now we can actually live there.¨… ¨Weŕe going to Texas, and weŕe staying.¨…¨Í mean it. Buying a house. Starting a garden. Getting a dog, Grace. Grace, do you know what this means?¨ This could be interpreted as that Grace and her family are there to stay. Certainly it could be said that it takes hard work to get to where you belong while this is a good point, it fails to account for that hard work needs hope in order to fill the hard work.
Clearly, the theme of “Hope “ is equal to home. This is first seen when the author used How many times she moved and never had time to connect. (name the subtopic). Write a sentence here summarizing that subtopic. Next, the theme was created when the author used home is her people and she want to move back because her people are from. She describes herself as a new kid all the time. Finally, the author used figurative language to create the theme. Readers saw this when Grace describes her life like a dandelion in the wind. As a result, it is evident that the theme of is “hope is equal to home.¨