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"
“The Trip” is a short story by Sona Charaipotra that takes place in an airport on their way to Geneva for a school trip. Sarika is super excited for this trip but she gets stopped in line and taken to an interrogation room because of where she was born. The theme of this story is that discrimination can affect one's safety.
ReplyDeleteThe first time you will see the theme is in the dialogue when she first gets taken for questioning and asks her questions slowly. “The man glares. ‘Do you have a social security number?’ he asks again, slowly, like I don’t understand English.” He also asks her questions about where she lived and says ‘your country’ even when she is a U.S citizen. This indicates that he doesn't believe that she is from the U.S, and this happens again when he asks his other questions, “Have you been to your country recently? : I'm a U.S citizen. : Have you been to your country recently?” He also ignores any questions or requests that she has like, “Can you, like, call my teacher. Ms. Hollander? I’m gonna miss my flight. : Where are you from? . . . No, where are you really from?” In this sentence he still doesn't believe her, and because he doesn't believe her Sarikas safety is put into jeopardy.
Another way the author showed that discrimination can affect somebody's safety is because being questioned and taken away without a good reason by the man affected her thoughts about her safety, “ I can’t make myself move. What if they stop us again? What if they don’t let me come back? I can see it now, all those years ahead of me, living in fear.” This affected her because she is scared to go to the gates because she thinks they will stop her and take her to questioning again which can make her not want to go on a plane again. Another moment that helps prove this is when Sarikas teacher Ms. Hollander tries to make a remark to the man who questioned Sarika and the man makes a threat to Ms. Hollander, “. . .And so should you, if you don't want to escalate this further. : . . . I can’t bring myself to open my mouth either. I just want to get out of here.” This also shows that Sarika is scared of the man and wants to leave the room.
The necklace that she is wearing, Ganeshji, is a symbol for her safety. From when she is being patted down to when shes gets the necklace back on the plane from Rajan, she isn't safe or comfortable with where she is at. The author shows this lack of safety when Sarika thinks, “And that’s when I realize what’s missing. My throat is bare, and it feels like everything’s lost again.” The author also shows that she feels happy with the necklace when she gets it back and thinks, “ And I’ve never been more grateful. For who I am. For who I might get to be. My Ganesh. The god of new beginnings.” This could be interpreted as a theme of that when you don't understand somebody you can hurt them; however, it clearly shows a theme of discrimination can affect one's safety because her necklace shows a symbol about when she is safe not when she is hurt.
Clearly, the theme of “The Trip” is that discrimination can affect one's safety. This is first seen when the author used dialogue to show that the man does not believe her and that may put her safety at risk. Next, the theme was created when the author used character actions. You can see this when she is thinking about how she wants to leave for the gates and how scared she is that she cannot move. Finally, the author used figurative language to create the theme. Readers saw this when the necklace was taken and given back. As a result, it is evident that the theme of “The Trip” is that discrimination can affect one’s safety.
I like the figurative language and how you worded things, I also like how you described the symbol and what it meant
ReplyDelete“The Trip” is a short story by Sona Charaipotra that takes place in an airport. In the story Sarika is going on a class trip to Geneva for the debate team. The class goes through TSA and Sarika is stopped by TSA because her passport says she was born in India. She is interrogated by an officer. He asks about India even though she is a U.S. citizen. The author uses this to teach us about equality; when you don’t treat people equally you can hurt people.
ReplyDeleteThe group is going through airport security and all the other kids go by with no issues but Sarikas passport gets flagged. This shows the theme because it was only her passport getting flagged for it saying she was born in India.
She is told by some officers that she has to go with them, and they bring her to an interrogation room. Her teacher was calling after her, but they just kept walking ignoring her. This could be interpreted as a theme of discrimination; however, it clearly creates a theme of equality because she is not being treated equally in the story to show how damaging it can be to not treat people equally.
Another way the theme is shown is by the officers taking a sixteen year old girl from the only adult she knows just because of one little thing on her passport. She is asked lots of questions about where she is from even though on her passport it states she is a U.S. citizen.
Lots of the staff at the airport ask her about her passport. One officer asks her for her passport. When Sarika tries to find it in her pockets and bags she doesn’t find it. She tells the officer this who gets annoyed at her, and goes to ask the guy who scanned her passport. The man had held on to her passport because of it getting flagged. This shows her being not treated equally, because hers was the only one being held on to.
All the questions the officer asks Sarika are about India and where she was really from. He said things like “where is your accent?” “Your english is really good.” “But where are you really from?” These things are stereotypical things people ask people of different ethnicities showing that he’s not treating her equally, because of her skin color.
During the interrogation there is repetition of the officer ignoring her questions shows the theme because he doesn't see her as someone who deserves answers.
The bees in her stomach at the start of the story are described as a buzzing excitement. Later when she is being interrogated they feel like they are angry and stinging her. This shows her being scared of them because she knows they don’t need to treat her as an equal against her and possibly deport her.
Her passport is a symbol because she is constantly asked about it even though no one else in her class is asked. It could symbolize her not being treated equally for her being Indian.
Clearly, the theme of “The Trip“ is equality. This is first seen when the author used plot events. When Sarika gets stopped and interrogated for her passport. Next, the theme was created when the author used dialogue. The officer kept asking questions about India as if she lived there but she is a U.S. citizen. Finally, the author used figurative language to create the theme. Readers saw this when the author used repetition of the officer ignoring her because he didn’t see her as someone who deserved an answer. As a result, it is evident that the theme of “The Trip“ is equality.
PART 1
ReplyDelete“The Trip” is a short story by Sona Charaipotra that takes place 2 hours before the main character Sarika goes to Switzerland in an airport in New Jersey, USA. What makes this story captivating is that she is from an Indian descent and culture; because of this culture and heritage TSA takes her back in an interrogation room and starts questioning her because of her culture. The author uses this to teach lessons about discrimination; don’t discriminate against others because of race, culture, or heritage.
The symbolism in the story shows how they were discriminating against her. The first symbol is Ganeshji. After the full body scanner and the security goes off. She gets pulled aside by one of the workers. The worker starts by asking her to remove her necklace. Sarika then goes on to talk about the person on the necklace Ganeshji. She says in the story,”He’s the god of new beginnings and so very necessary for this trip.” This shows how her life in America was supposed to give her a better chance than what her family and home country had or has, and her heritage from her family being from India. This isn’t the only symbol though.In the story also talks about the anklet she is wearing. When the lady found the anklets she told her to remove them all as well. After Sarika removed them and the worker finished the pat-down she was told to stand to the side and not continue through the security gate. After they found this on her she was sent to the interrogation rooms. Even though she didn’t didn’t say or do anything that would point to her being a terrorist. I wonder how many other people have had to experience this? After she was sent back to the interrogation rooms, the old guy that she calls Meanie starts talking to her. It starts off with him asking her simple questions like her age and name. After that she states that Meanie asks,” ‘Do you have a social security number?’ He asks again, slowly, like I don’t understand English.” Not only that, but durning of the conversation between them it starts off with him saying,” ‘Your english is really good.’ She replied with, ’Thanks. I get As in it, mostly. And I’m on the debate team’. He then goes to say, ‘Where’s your accent?’ She says, ‘I'd say my only accent is Jersey.’ he says then,’ But you were not born here?’ After that she says, ‘No. We moved when I was two.’ He goes and ends the conversation,’ Not Indian.” Later in a different conversation after that he asks her,” Let me put it another way-what interactions have you had recently with people from your country?” Showing that even though he has a passport saying she is American and has answered all his other questions by saying she hasn’t left America in years; he continues asking the same question which is repetition. These aren’t the only times that he does this. He keeps repeating in different ways and questioning her actually being from America. Another interaction that shows repetition; at the beginning they talk about her teacher handing over all the passports and then receiving all but one. They don’t really mention this till later in the story when the woman asks for the passport and she doesn’t have it. Then she talks to a different worker and it turns out that her passport is the only passport that they kept. After the whole interrogation she finally gets why he is asking these questions when she says,” They really do think I’m a terrorist. Based on the words on my passport. One word. The circumstance of my birth.” This means even though her passport does state that she is a US citizen they stopped because of one word and a place she hasn't been in over ten years. This is repetition because they brought up the passport multiple times, and she was getting stereotyped just because of her culture and where she came from. Why wouldn’t he believe her if her passport said the same thing as she was saying, and the passport was a real American passport?
PART 2
ReplyDeleteThe third reason to show that she was getting discriminated against because of race and culture was because of the airport workers actions. In the story after they bring her back to the interrogation room she describes,”A single bulb lights the cube, but just barely. I glance around the room, and spy my stuff stashed in one corner, the suitcase flung open, the contents of my backpack shoved into a bin.” With different describing words like flung, shoved, and stashed this creates an image that they kinda just threw her stuff in there, and didn’t care what happened to it. This is disrespectful to her because after she sees this she gets really nervous and is on the verge of tears. Not only did the TSA workers just throw her stuff in there but when they talked to her they didn’t talk to her like she was a human. They kept the words to a bare minimum. She also says in the text,” If Meanie thinks I’m crying, he clearly doesn’t care.” Showing that even though she didn’t do anything but be born in a different country she is being treated badly. She is also just a minor and doesn’t even get to talk to an adult during this whole interrogation. This could be interpreted as a theme of lack of equality; however this goes to show discrimination because none of her classmates, or others in the airport were getting treated like this.And the whole reason they brought her back to the room was because of her birth place. Why wouldn’t they at least make her feel not as bad and make things a little nicer especially since she isn’t even 18? How are they able to talk to her if she is a minor without an adult with her?
At the end of the story when she was finally on the plane she started to realize everything that just happened. She realizes that the way she was treated and how she got pulled out of the security line wasn’t normal, and shouldn’t have happened to her. When she got pulled this is when the theme started to happen. The author uses this ending to show how this is not okay in today's society or any time. This shows the theme of don’t discriminate against someone because of race, culture, and heritage.
“The Trip” is a short story by Sona Charaipotra that takes place 2 hours before her dream trip. What makes the story unique is that she is the only one in her group that gets stopped by the TSA. Sarika is a junior in highschool who was born in India, but has been an American citizen since then. Sarika is going on her dream trip to Switzerland for her school's debate team. The author uses this to teach us lessons about discrimination; You shouldn't discriminate against others who have a different race or culture.
ReplyDeleteIn the book “The Trip” there are many examples of character actions. An example of the workers' action is when they threw all of Sarikas stuff into the corner of the room. The text says, “A single bulb lights the cube, but just barely. I glance around the room, and spy my stuff stashed in one corner, the suitcase found open, the contents of my backpack showing into a bin.” This gives a picture in your mind that her stuff is being thrown around. Another interaction of the workers actions is when they wouldn't let Sarika call her parents or teacher. An interaction of Sarika’s actions is when she got up in the questioning room, and decided to look through her bags to call her mom. This was probably not the smartest idea she had but luckily Ms Hollander came in to get her.
There are multiple different examples of symbolism in the story “The Trip”. One example of symbolism is the anklet. This symbolizes a part from her culture and where she was born. They point out the anklet by having the body scanner going off when she walks through. Another example of symbolism in this short story is her necklace. Her necklace shows her heritage from where she was born. She thought it was really important for her to bring this necklace on the trip with her. The text states “Remove your necklace please, faux-ever blonde says, and I slip off my little Ganesh chain and place it in the round bin the lady holds out. He’s the god of new beginnings and so very necessary for this trip.” This could be interpreted as creating a theme of disrespect; however, it clearly created a theme of discrimination because she was the only one that got stopped at security.This shows that it is really important to her to have this necklace on her trip.
There are many examples of reputation in the story “The Trip”. The passport is very crucial in this story. The passport represents reputation because she says the opposite and they keep questioning her about it. It starts when the man asks to see her passport. He then does it again even though she just answered. She doesnt think about it much at the beginning but then starts to wonder why they all have been asking her the same questions about her passport. Realizing they are trying to send her back to India.
Clearly, the theme of “The Trip“ is that you shouldn’t discriminate against someone who has a different race or culture. This is first seen when the author used her passport for reputation. The author used the passport to show reputation of discrimination. Next, the theme was created when the author had her be the only one that got questioned about her passport. Finally, the author used figurative language to create discrimination. Readers saw this when they were questioning her about her passport. As a result, it is evident that the theme of “The Trip“ is discrimination.