Analysis Of ' On The Sidewalk Bleeding '

Reading coming of age stories are always interesting and at times nastolgic. Coming of age stories typically include a young protagonist forced to make a grown decision which is a transition to their first move into adulthood. In a sense, these stories show the protagonist shifting from innocence to gaining experiences. The two coming of age stories that we read in class were “A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett and “The Man Who Was Almost A Man” by Richard Wright. Both being coming of age stories, they have similar features but were different in the sense that one protagonist seemed to have made a shift into adulthood whereas one did not.

Various novels can be classified as “coming-of-age” texts, this means that these are stories about a protagonist’s transition from childhood to adulthood or just growing up even as an adult. These novels show their growth and change in character over the length of the text. Novels such as The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston are all examples of coming-of-age novels. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God the story is focused on Janie Crawford and her growth over the course of the book.

Although one may be affiliated with a certain classification, sect, or group, in the end, no matter who someone is, human lives are all of equal importance. In On the Sidewalk Bleeding, a short story by Evan Hunter, Hunter uses a variety literary devices to give the reader a feeling of compassion for the protagonist. The story is about a young boy who is also a “Royals” gang member, Andy. Andy is lying in a dark, rainy alley after being stabbed by an opposing gang. He is hopeless and begins to realize he is dying. Emotions of sadness and regret swamp his mind. Notwithstanding Andy was associated with a gang, the reader learns more about who he truly is as the story continues and discovers that he has a heart of gold. In

Often times readers desire for works that they can relate to on a personal level. With that in mind Billy Collins wrote a poem entitled, “On Turning Ten” discusses the hardships experienced from growing up. The poem is written from the perspective of a child who has turned ten years old and is looking back at their great life as a very young kid. The child sees the world in a different way and feels sad that he has grown up. Collins, through his poem, displays the emotional hardship of growing older and causes the reader to relate to the child as they remember their own experiences growing up.

Abraham Lincoln said, “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” Often times in our society young people push off responsibilities, it's easy to do. Technology and other innovations have made it convenient for us to become distracted and to push things off. However when growing up, sometimes taking responsibility cannot be avoided. In coming of age stories, the author uses symbolism to exemplify how the protagonists experience new independence and responsibility while they transition from childhood to adulthood.

In the short stories, “Saving Sourdi,” by May-Lee Chai and “The Moths,” by Helena Maria Viramontes, the main character of each short story goes through their own coming of age experience where they are forced to mature in order to overcome an obstacle. Chai explains her main character, Nea’s, struggle as she is forced to mature and overcome the departure of her older sister, Sourdi, from her life after she gets married and moves away. Viramontes, on the other hand, depicts her narrator’s struggle as she is forced to mature and overcome the death of her Abuelita on her own. Despite their very different approaches, both Chai and Viramontes successfully convey their main character 's struggles in their journey from youth to adulthood.

The Novella “The Body” by Stephen King is about a group of boys who all come from abusive dysfunctional families and this book is their journey to discover a dead body. They are young and their immaturity makes them excited to see a dead body but along the way, they begin to realize various things and begin to grow. In this book the four boys Gordie, Chris, Vern, and Teddy come of age. In this essay, there will be brief descriptions about three of the four of the boys from this novella. Chris came from a bad family and was thought to come out the exact same way as his family and was doubted his whole life. Teddy came from an abusive family where his father burned off his ears and took away his hearing. Gordie’s older brother Dennis had died and his family began to treat him like he was invisible and that their only child had died. “Coming of age is when an adolescent protagonist comes to childhood by a process of experience and disillusionment. These characters lose their innocence, discovers that previous preconceptions are false or has the security of childhood torn away, but usually matures and strengthened by this process” (Matthew’s Quote). In Stephen King’s novella “The Body” King shows through Chris, Gordie, and Teddy that a person cannot come of age unless they are able to come to contact with their emotions and reality and be able to forgive to move forward in life.

Coming of age is an influential part of many people’s lives. They begin to leave behind their innocent childhood views and develop a more realistic view on the world around them as they step forward into adulthood. (Need to add transition) Many authors have a coming of age theme in their books; specifically, Harper Lee portrays a coming of age theme in his book To Kill A Mockingbird. Through the journeys of their childhoods, Jem and Scout lose their innocence while experiencing their coming of age moment, making them realize how unfair Maycomb really is.

The world changes faster now than ever. At the same time, in general, when people grow into their adult selves, the world progresses at even a faster rate, due to the way that adults live and experience life. As such, there is a need to express what it is like to live in such a world, while being a certain age. Ian Frazier 's "In Praise of Margins" wonderfully illustrates what it means to be a child - who is so carefree and can play without reason or aim - as well as an adult, who must always find meaning and reason in their actions, even if it means at the cost of truly enjoying life, and thus question why humans live in the way that they do. Of course, I’m on his side.

In coming of age stories, the protagonists often experience a pensive and dramatic moment where either they break through to adulthood or retreat to childhood - it is this moment that unveils the magnitude of growing up for the reader.

Every individual comes to a point in their life in which they begin to swim away from the harbor their parents raised them in, and begin navigating their own life. Dalton Trumbo uniquely portrays the familiar concept of coming-of-age, within a passage from his novel Johnny Got His Gun, in which he depicts a son wanting to take a friend fishing instead of his father who has taken him annually during their camping trip. Trumbo gives insight into the internal turmoil that strikes when confronting ones parents about wanting to drift away from the anchor they’ve been for them. He clearly articulates his point, illustrating the flow in thought from tense to reflective using precise selection of detail, applying a shift in point of view, and naturalistic imagery.

young adult is often referred to as the "coming of age," or growing up. The

Billy Collins’ “On Turning Ten” is a coming of age poem from the perspective of a nine-year-old boy who is unenthusiastic about his tenth birthday. Collins’ “On Turning Ten” uses structural irony to juxtapose childhood with coming of age to suggest that the uneasiness of the inevitable passing of time is difficult to come to terms with, as the imaginative nature of youth is lost. The speaker uses various literary devices to strengthen the use of structural irony throughout the poem.

In a standard coming of age novel, the protagonist is usually in their adolescent to early adulthood years.

young adult is often referred to as the "coming of age," or growing up. The