Alex Jordan
October 30, 2013
EN
101.16
Event Analysis
Right
to be an Individual
St. Francis de Sales once said “Be who you are and be
that well”. That was a theme that occurred in Richard Hague’s “Directions for
Resisting SAT’s”, Gary Gildner’s “First Practice” and Langston Hughes’s “Thank
you Ma’am”. Each writer spoke to the fact that each person has the right to be
an individual; that each person has different wants but yet has the right to
reach those wants. We are in a world where being an individual and having a
style/personal motto can be like no others but yet you are still accepted.
Richard Hague’s main theme in “Directions for Resisting
SAT’s” was to be an individual. He wants the reader to have a sense of pride
and to not allow anyone to hold you back. He speaks about how you are stuck in
a classroom on the weekend, taking a test that essentially will decide your
future. He is giving the reader something to take hold of and give them the
power to not allow one test to define who we are. Richard Hague does not want
society to be confined by something that does not necessarily allow a person to
express who they actually are.
Gary Gildner’s “First Practice” is all about people
expressing themselves. He speaks about how the “man with the short cigar took
us under the grade school”. It explains how and old style teacher allowed kids
to express their frustration towards another person. Although this is not
necessarily a good thing, I do think it is important for people to express how
they feel. Society should not deem how your express yourself. The ability to
express you freely is a very important factor in today’s society. “The man with
the short cigar” allowed these kids to express how they truly feel and not
stopping them from it. He does not want these kids to have to bottle up their
emotions.
Langston Hughes’ “Thank you Ma’am”, it starts off with a
young boy trying to steal and older woman’s purse but is not able to get away
before being caught. The woman snatched him up asks him why did it and later takes
the boy back for supper. The boy’s answer for trying to steal her purse was
simply because he wanted some “blue suede shoes”. Not only does the boy show
his individualism by wanting “blue suede shoes” but the older woman shows her
individualism by not reacting in the way most people would react if someone
tried to rob them. She reacted in a way most people would not, she went against
social norms to be angry and to try to have the young boy arrested. She also
took the young boy back for supper, got him cleaned up and gave him dessert as
well. The young boy’s attitude is seen doing a complete 180 degree turn when he
asks the lady if she needed help with any groceries and they he would help her
if she did. At the very end of the story the lady gives the boy the money for
the shoes he wanted and sent him on his way.
I recently attended a reading by author Robert Olen
Butler. One reading he did that spoke to me was one about his mother, who was
sick with dementia, asked about help at night time. He told us that at the time
he was unsure what was meant by that until he asked a staff member the night
time routine for her. He said they checked her diaper every two hours, night
and day. This was not allowing her to get the best night’s sleep possible and
it gave her a rash from the constant changing. When confronted staff members
answered with “It has always been the routine and I am simply following the
rules”. But these were people who were following the norm and not ever thinking
if this was good or not. They were not willing to stand up and be an individual
and say that what was taking place was not good for his mother.
All three of these works spoke to me in different ways
but had one overall theme, individualism. One gave me the message of I must not
confine to social norms and to do what made me happy whether it was accepted or
not. Another one said to express my true feelings, not to be fake but rather be
true. And the last said to not necessarily do what is accepted and what is
expected but to do what is right. To not let the idea of other people’s
reactions bring me down.
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