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An Analysis Of Symbols In Eleven By Sandra Cisneros

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“Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them.” This quote from Mitch Albom along with these short stories shows how everyone can be effected by the time period when a child reaches the point in their life when they start understanding how to handle and comprehend some important thig ns and transitions in their lives. One of the symbols shown is from the story Eleven by Sandra Cisneros, the author uses are the red sweater that the teacher gives the girl. The teacher found a red sweater in her classroom closet, and when nobody claimed it as theirs, one of the protagonists classmates shouted that it was hers, and she didn't have the chance to stick up for herself to prevent the humiliation she received. She was mainly bothered by this because it was her eleventh birthday and she wanted it to be special, but the red sweater was making her oblivious to the positive parts of her day, as she was focused on not so much the sweater, but how she was not able to defend herself and how her teacher influenced the situation by not acknowledging anything she had to say. Majority of the story the character is coming up with insults for the red sweater like how she says, “In my head I’m thinking how long till lunchtime, how long till I can take the red sweater and throw it over the school yard fence, or even leave it hanging on a parking meter.” This quote shows the time of coming of age in the main character's life when her humiliation is conflicting her views on

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