...No matter how far your imagination can stretch or what you can think of, you can get anything you want if you give it all you have got. Determination is the key to following your dreams, proven in the story “Raymond’s Run” as well as The Duck Song. Squeaky is out to pursue her dreams and keep her reputation as a runner. Her tenaciousness lets her see her goal and find a way to get to it like a GPS finding a destination. But when Squeaky fails she doesn’t give up, she tries again either at something new or at what she failed at, just like the duck in The Duck Song. With Squeaky determination is what makes her win. If Squeaky had still had the muscle to be a runner, but didn’t care about the outcome of the race you would see someone who had no...
Words: 269 - Pages: 2
...Rejection is an everyday conflict. You run into it on your way to work. You greet it at the bus stop. However, rejection has a choice for you to take. Rejection can either a nuisance to you, or your friend that supports you through thick and thin. When you choose the “nuisance” path for rejection, you are extinguishing a fire that gives you a boost of self-confidence. On the other hand, greeting rejection as an old friend can in turn kindle the fire. One person that uses this technique within her life is the fictional character Squeaky, from the story “Raymond’s Run” by Toni Cade Bambara. In this story, Squeaky has to overcome her brother Raymond’s mental disability, bullies, poverty, and her mother’s girly expectations. All the obstacles life...
Words: 1541 - Pages: 7
...Everyone has those they consider family, even though they may not share blood. In literature, family often provides interesting conflicts for protagonists, from internal to external. The authors SE Hinton, Toni Cade Bambara and Walter Dean Myers all explore the central idea of family and identity in their respective works, The Outsiders, “Raymond’s Run” and “The Treasure of Lemon Brown”. Ponyboy Curtis’s internal turmoil over being a Greaser exemplifies this point elegantly: Ponyboy is born to a family of Greasers, lives among Greasers and loves his Greaser gang, though his identity ostracizes him in the Greaser world. Because of this, Ponyboy feels misunderstood and alone, saying, “[N]obody in [his] gang digs movies and books the way [he]...
Words: 827 - Pages: 4
...Raymond’s Run (handout edition) - Essay Raymond’s Run is a short story written by Toni Bambara Cade in 1960. The story is about a girl named Hazel, and her brother Raymond who is “not quite right”. Hazel loves running and she is always first in competitions. She is always looking out for Raymond and takes him with her when she is practicing, and also to the May Day race where Raymond starts running in his own unique style which changes Hazel’s view on Raymond, herself and the people around her. In my essay I would like to analyze the main character, setting, language, theme and finally compare to other similar texts. Raymond’s Run is told by a first-person narrator who also happens to be the story’s protagonist. The protagonist is named Hazel but bears the nickname “Squeaky” because she is skinny and with a squeaky voice. She’s a black girl from a poor environment and spends most of her time looking out for her brother Raymond and practicing running. Hazel has a negative view on other people, especially Gretchen and her “clique”, which is clearly pointed out by the way she thinks about them and talks to them. She also states that she does not like fake things and people trying to be someone they are not, “…trying to act like a fairy or a flower or whatever you’re supposed to be when you should be trying to be yourself ” p. 2 ll. 42-43. Hazel prefer fighting before arguing, thus knowing she is skinny and not very strong. She says that the big kids call her “Mercury” because...
Words: 826 - Pages: 4
...Theme Essay “Raymond's Run” written by Toni Cade Bambara is about a girl nicknamed Squeaky that is having problems about how she can’t make friends. She is different from everyone else because of a family problem. In the story” All American Slurp” Lin is a girl that lived in a different country and she had a different way of living and when she moves to a different country she finds out that what she learned was not what the others did. Lin faces a problem just like Squeaky where she is different from most people and not many people like having friends that are different . The problem that Squeaky is facing is that nobody likes her and they don’t want towanna be friends with her because she is competitive with everyone she meets and that...
Words: 616 - Pages: 3
...If you ever want to be like Squeaky in Raymond’s Run you must be honest. Honest hearts produce honest actions anyway. Squeaky is a honest young girl. First of all, she talks honestly about getting hit at home. Secondly, she tells Gretchen that she won't win. As well as, she is very honest about how proud of Raymond she is. Toni Cade Bambara included these details to show she is honest. There is no doubt that squeaky is honest. She talks honestly about getting hit at home! If anyone in got hit at home they would most likely not tell anyone unless they are also getting hit at home. A lot of people would also find it good that she'll take a beating for Raymond. For example in paragraph 4 sentence 3 it says, “After a rain he likes to step off...
Words: 393 - Pages: 2
...Compare/ Contrast Essay It might seem like “Everything Will Be OK” and “ Raymond's Run” are very different kinds of stories. One is a story about a boy who is soft, sensitive and the other is about a girl who is tough and confident. When you dig a little deeper, you will see that both stories actually share a common theme. In both stories , “Raymond's Run” and “ Everything Will Be OK” the authors teach us that it is important to have courage to be an individual. In “Everything Will Be OK” the author shows us that it is vital to have courage to be yourself . In the beginning of the story James shows little courage to be himself . For example, when James says he can feel tears welling up. This evidence shows that, James is really sad about the kitten, maybe being too sick to keep but he won’t show it because he’s afraid of what is brother’s will think if he cries. This shows very little courage. Another example is, when James says “ I want to go because I want my father to like me, but I don’t want to kill animals” This evidence suggests , that he has to courage to just say he doesn't want to because he is so busy...
Words: 899 - Pages: 4
...hide who they really are when they mean to impress others because the want to appear “normal”. All this affects their self-worth and self-esteem, pulling them under a veil of regret and self-doubt. Similarly, the character Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker (also known as Squeaky), the protagonist in the short story “Raymond's Run” by Toni Cade Barbara, uses a mask to hide her feelings from others. She resides in poverty-stricken Harlem taking place in the 1960s....
Words: 1431 - Pages: 6
...“Raymond’s Run,” is about a girl named Squeaky who protects her brother, Raymond. “Everything Will Be Okay” is about a boy named James who wants to make him family proud but thinks very differently from them. In the stories “Everything will be okay” and “Raymond’s Run” the authors teach is that it is okay to be your own person. In “Raymond’s Run,” Squeaky is very protective of her brother, Raymond. Because of this it is hard for Raymond to be his own person. Squeaky keeps him on the inside of the road so he doesn't run off. He has to stay by Squeaky’s side every minute of the day. She doesn't even let him talk to other people because she is afraid that Raymond will get hurt. For example, when Mary asked, “what grade are you in now Raymond.” Squeaky didn’t even let him defend himself, when she yelled “You got anything to say to my brother, you say it to me, Mary Louise Williams of raggedy town Baltimore.” This shows that Raymond can’t even stand up for himself, without Squeaky jumping in. If Squeaky won’t even let Raymond talk to other people then Raymond can’t become his own person. By the end of the story Squeaky gives him a...
Words: 572 - Pages: 3
...Almost everybody has heard of the bright-eyed, smiling Barbie doll. The fashion doll is extremely famous, and has been part of many childhoods, giving girls a role model to look up too. Since the 1960’s, Barbie’s goal and purpose has been to show girls and women that they can be anything they want to. However, with this positive mindset comes Barbie’s looks. She has set an ‘ideal body shape’, and is often criticized for her unrealistic figure. When one puts their mind to something, there is often no stopping them. Especially when it comes to overcoming stereotypes and achieving one’s dreams. A character who faces these problems is Squeaky, the protagonist of “Raymond’s Run”, a short story written by Toni Cade Bambara. The story takes takes...
Words: 288 - Pages: 2
...Compare/Contrast essay It might seem like “Everything Will Be Ok” and “Raymond's Run”are very different Kinds of stories. One story is about a boy who found a animal and wanting to take care of it And the other is about a girl who is being overprotective and not wanting anyone else in. If you look a little closer you will find out they are kinda in common themes. “Raymond's run” and “Everything will be ok” the author teaches us that it is important to have the courage to be an individual. In “Everything Will Be Ok” the author and main character, James Howe shows Us that it is vital to have the courage to be yourself. In the beginning of the story james found a kitten in The woods and thought he would bring it home and take care of it. All of his family said mean things but, his mom understood how he felt. His father said it would be a waste of good meat. His brothers teased him but, his mother thought the opposite she said You don't have to eat it and took the grey meat off his plate. This is important because It tells us he doesn't have the courage yet to have courage and tell how he feels about it. In the middle of the story, James mother cleans the cat up and leaves the cat in a box...
Words: 567 - Pages: 3
...In the world, many people struggle with making friends. In this short story “Raymond's Run” by Toni Cade Bambara the third grader Squeaky learns that being vulnerable to others can have a positive impact on your life. She alway walled herself off from other people to avoid them. In the beginning Squeaky has always walled herself off “You got anything to say about my brother you say it to me Mary Loise of raggedy town Baltimore”. She has become over protective over her brother Raymond. She is so caught up guarding Raymond from people making fun of him that she doesn’t make any friends because she thinks that everybody will try to make fun of Raymond but that doesn’t happen all the time and now she is going to start learning that. She will...
Words: 277 - Pages: 2
...A range of diverse lessons can be gleaned through participating in competitive sports, some of which may lay the groundwork for future successes in other areas of life. This is expressed by Toni Cade Bambara in “Raymond’s Run.” and by Lorne Zeiler in “Lawrence (Larry) Lemieux Lifesaver”. While both protagonists learn valuable lessons from participating in competitive sports, Hazel of “Raymond’s Run,” gains the most from her experience when compared to Lawrence Lemieux. In Toni Cade Bambara’s piece, Hazel Parker learns several valuable lessons due to her involvement in competitive sports. Hazel discovers that helping others may bring more happiness than personal achievement. This revelation can be observed through her sudden insistence on pursuing the idea of abandoning her running career to coach her brother in the same...
Words: 558 - Pages: 3
...The stories Everything will be okay and Raymond's run are toes, but have some similarities like, be your own person and the importance of individualism. Raymond's Run Squeaky shows a lot of individualism and she is a very unique person. The beginning is where squeaky is very protective and she is also very stubborn and she quotes that “I would much rather take my chances than talk it out!” But in Everything will be okay James is a very compassionate person and doesn't like fighting is also very competitive she does a lot of training to prepare for her competitions and her running. But throughout the story and she sees Raymond running and she realises that she needs to train Raymond ins She also becomes more friendly, she sends a smile at...
Words: 421 - Pages: 2
...In the short story "Raymond's Run'' by Tori Cade Bambara, the protagonist Squeaky is a young girl who is in charge of taking care of her handicapped brother. Her real name is Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker, she got the name Squeaky because her voice is well squeaky. From what the author wrote I think the setting is in NYC. Squeaky proves to be a memorable character because she is a nonconformist, protective and mostly because she is very confident. One main reason that Squeaky is a memorable character, is that she is a nonconformist-a kindof bad way to say that you are very different from everybody else. For incense, she says "I take my time getting to the park on May Day because the track meet is the last thing on the program. The biggest thing on the program is the May Pole...
Words: 623 - Pages: 3