...Theme is the main idea, overall message, or lesson the author wants you to take away from the story. In “Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto, Soto expresses several themes throughout his short story. In an essay, explain at least three different themes the author was trying to convey to his readers. Use the text from Edgenuity to help you with your essay. You may also use your RACE Response from last lab as one of your body paragraphs. “Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto expresses several themes throughout his short story.Three themes that are used are “Don’t change yourself for anybody.”,”You can’t be perfect for anyone you can only try.”,and “If they don’t like you for you leave them.”All three of these themes have one thing in common which is the message of being yourself.You can tell all of...
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...The Rise of Gary Soto Poetry can often be a way for writers to reflect on their lives and to express feelings like sorrow and happiness from their past. Through this, a clear parallel can be drawn between a poet’s life and their work. A poet’s specific life events are often influential in the themes displayed in their poetry. By drawing from life experiences, poets may be able to infuse deeper meaning into their poems because the poet has truly gone through the emotions of these occurrences firsthand. This creates a deeper and more thoughtful poem as the poets are writing about a subject they themselves have faced. The harsh and impoverished youth of Gary Soto had a strong influence on his works as themes of poverty, growing up, empathy, and the American dream are present in his poems. In “Small Town with One Road” Gary Soto uses personification and symbolism to communicate the poem’s theme of the American Dream (going from poverty to riches through hard work regardless of who you are). The poem implements some of Soto’s life...
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...In the story “Growing Up” by Gary Soto he expresses the theme of being grateful for what you have, the theme is shown by through mood, tone, and symbols. Soto expresses the theme by mentioning in the text that the main character, Maria, does not want to go on a family vacation because she thinks she is too grown up to go to Disneyland. In the text Maria says “Dad, I’m not going this year,” Maria is telling her dad that she does not want to go on the family vacation anymore. Maria is stating that she is too grown up to be going to Disneyland and that she doesn’t want to go with her family even though they go every year. Soto is now just saying that people need to be grateful for what they have and not take anything for granted. Next, the conflict...
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...The short story, “Seventh Grade”, written by Gary Soto is a realistic fiction piece of literature. The purpose of this story is to entertain the audience through a story about a seventh grade boy who is trying to figure out how to impress a girl and start off his school year well. This short story is directed towards an older youth audience, as it relates to what middle school students might go through and how they may feel as they start a new school year. The theme of this text is the first day of school, more specifically, a boy trying to impress a girl he likes. Throughout the story the author shows how the main character, Victor, is constantly thinking about Theresa and how he feels when he is around her. The diction used throughout the story emphasizes the thoughts...
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...Writing styles vary widely and truly diverse however, Gary Soto's stands out among them all. By comparing two different stories by Gary Soto, it becomes clear that no one writes in quite the same way. In fact, most if not all of his stories have some kind of relationship with mr. Soto's life. Most of these real life connections are from Gary Soto's childhood. This paper will examine the similarities and differences between "Mother and Daughter" and "The Jacket". The first book to examine would be mother and daughter. Mother and daughter is the story of a poor mother and her daughter, Yollie who are having a hard time financially and trying to live a happy life. The main character is a Yollie, a teenage girl. The teen and her mother have financial problems and there are many things that they want but they can't have those things. In a small part of the story, Yollie is faced with a problem, she wants to go to a school dance, but her mother can't afford a new dress. So she and her mother decide to use her old summer dress and paint it black. The story, as in most of Garry's stories has it's happy times and sad times and...
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...La Bamba Do you ever overthink anything? In Gary Soto’s “La Bamba” the main character Manuel is overthinking. He is worried that he isn't going to do good in the school’s talent show, and when Manuel drops his record he gets even more worried. “Manuel dropped his record, which rolled across the cafeteria floor until it hit a wall.” Overthinking is something a lot of people can do sometimes. When you get scared or nervous thinking or “knowing” you are going to mess up. Don’t overthink, you should try things before you before you make an opinion about it. Manuel is overthinking everything because he is thinking everyone is bored and he thinks he is not doing well. He says everyone is just staring...
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...In middle school, every boy wants the coolest jacket in school. The girls will follow him around and be signing autographs at recess. But sometimes, it doesn’t work out all the way you think. The actions, imagery, and diction in “The Jacket” by Gary Soto supports how you cannot always help the situation that you are in, but you can help your attitude. First the actions the boy makes in “The Jacket” supports the overarching theme: You can’t always help the situation that you are in, but you can help your attitude. In fact, the boy is very disappointed to see that he didn't get the jacket that he was hoping for. Soto explains,” “I blame that jacket for those bad years. I blame my mother-” this provides the fact how he has had the jacket for...
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...Gary Soto, as many people may know, is a famous poet who writes many poems that can be for children. Gary Soto was born on April 12, 1952, in Fresno, California. During his early life (college and before), he had a farm job in the field of the San Joaquin Valley. He also did not really care about his education until he was exposed to poetry in high school. That started his career where he attended Fresno City College and California State University-Fresno. He also earned an MFA from the University of California-Irvine in 1976. When he first started making poems, he named his first collection, The Elements of San Joaquin, this caused him to win the United States Award of the International Poetry Forum in 1976. This was the start of a huge...
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...There was a boy and his mom got him a jacket,but he does not like it. The symbolism in the jacket supports the overarching theme is be thankful be thankful for what you have. He said his clothes have failed him and that he needs new clothes,but his Mom got something he does not like. He thinks the jacket make him look ugly. Even though he does not like the jacket he still wore it for 3 years until the sleeves grew short. He wore it because it kept him warm. Even though it was cold outside he took off the jacket and when he got back inside he had goosebumps and his teeth were chattering so he put the jacket back on. After those bad years he blamed his mom for her cheap ways and the jacket for those bad years. He really does not like the...
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...concealing guilt is often given a negative connotation, however, the implications that are associated with guilt and sins are human creations. Guilt, the result of shameful mistakes, is associated with infirmity, cowardice, and self-centeredness due to the fear of exposure. These three mesmerizing works, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Pie” by Gary Soto and, “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, address the theme of guilt and the consequences of concealing one’s guilt. The Scarlet Letter considered one of the most famous of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, is set in the1850s in Boston, Massachusetts. The plot revolves around a Puritan community and a woman named Hester. “The Pie”, written in Fresno, California in 1991, is an autobiographical narrative that illustrates Soto’s sin when he steals a pie from the grocery store and experiences the feeling of guilt along with a few other consequences. “The Crucible” was written in 1953 and exposes the truths about the Salem Witchcraft trials, in Massachusetts. Ultimately, through their respective protagonists’ acts of aggression and violations of boundaries, authors Hawthorne, Soto, and Miller illustrate that the guilt derived from sin itself, especially if concealed from society, can cause emotional and mental torture, leading to everlasting internal punishment, and an increase in remorseful feelings. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne depicts the consequences of concealing transgression through Hester by showing the internal punishment...
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...Mac Foster Mrs. Brown Adv 11th Lit 15 December 2016 Gary Soto Gary Soto, a Mexican-American author, was born in 1952, Fresno, California. His parents were both Mexican-American. Soto did not expect a lot in his life, he imagined he would "’marry Mexican poor, work Mexican hours, and in the end die a Mexican death, broke and in despair’" (Lee). That’s what many people would have predicted for him. However, he instead became a writer of great worth, writing poems and short stories. “Soto is one of the most important voices in Chicano literature”(Sullivan). Soto, an established writer, uses his experience from life and his surroundings when he was a child to write stories about life in a Mexican-American community. Soto grew up in a small family,...
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...Help can come from unexpected places no matter where you are. The story "7th grade" by Gary Soto and the "Scholarship Jacket" by Marta Salinas. They share a common theme. Both stories teach us, help can come from unexpected places. When you need help, you need help might find it where you least expect it. In 7th grade by Gary Soto tells a story about a boy named Victor, who's in 7th grade he tries to impress his crush Teresa. When he is in French the teacher asks if anybody already knows how to speak French already. Victor raises his hand, wanting to impress Teresa. The teacher asks him to speak what he knows. Victor doesn't know any French says what he thinks sounds like it could be French but it sounds like nonsense. The teacher didn’t...
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...There names are Antonio And Feli. 3) Parts of the Project: Once you have researched at least three stories, you need to begin the project. The project will require: Read the short story looking for: A summary of events Theme Important literary symbols Context Presentation on the author and the historical context of the story When was the author alive and where did s/he live? Was the story famous when the author published it? Or later? Two interesting facts about the author Was there anything important happening historically when the author was alive? Was the story written during a certain time period because the author was upset about something? Why did your group pick this story? Re-telling of the story in a modern setting Create a skit, short story, comic book, children’s book to retell your story in a modern context Keep the same theme, symbols, and basic plot, but you decide the characters and setting Ex: To start, try to think about a movie or book you really...
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...There are many types of interesting people in the world that could help you. The story "Scholarship Jacket" by Marta Salinas and the story "7th Grade" by Gary Soto are about helping others. They share a common theme. Both stories teach people that help can come from different places or from different people. If you ask for help, you will get help. In the story "Scholarship Jacket" by Marta Salinas, there is a girl named Martha who has had perfect grades for eight years. One day the principle told her that she would have to pay fifteen dollars to get the jacket. When she got home she asked her grandpa for fifteen dollars to buy the scholarship jacket. He said no because it would be something you paid for and not earned. The next day she told...
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...Some obstacles are looked at as impossible. | Whether someone or something someone cares about is trying to overcome an obstacle, there will always be support. Family and friends will always try to encourage and show they care. In times of need and support, family strives to help overcome an obstacle in a loved one's way. In Takings Sides by Gary Soto, Lincoln’s family sticks together to get through some tough obstacles. He has to overcome some obstacles with his best friend, Tony, from his old neighborhood and school in the barrio (the mexican ghetto in their urban area). One of the main things that the friends fight over is how Lincoln moves to a new city. One of the main reasons for this argument is because of a TV that belonged...
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