Eleven By Sandra Cinsneros Summary

In “Eleven”, written by Sandra Cisneros, Cisneros uses literary techniques such as diction and imagery to characterize Rachel’s character during her transition from age ten to age 11. These literary techniques help to describe how Rachel feels in certain situations while also explaining her qualities and traits. Through the use of these literary techniques Cisneros also collaborated on Rachel’s feelings when she was other ages and how she felt at that time during her life.

All schools try to prevent pregnancies, but that does not always work out. Everyone knows of someone who was a teen parent or they might of been one themselves. No one plans to be a teen parent things happen that were not planned. The book "The First Part Last" by Angela Johnson, is about a teen couple that makes a decision that changes their whole world. The main character Bobby has to raise a kid by himself and struggles to find out if he is a "man". He is just a teenager and he has to grow up fast to take care of his responsibilities.

In the short story, "Eleven," by Sandra Cisnernos, Cisneros describes the birthday of Rachel, an eleven year-old who was humiliated on her birthday. Her teacher, Mrs. Price, claimed that an old sweater belonged to her, when in reality, it was Sylvia Saldivar's who ironically claimed it belonged to Rachel. Rachel was left crying and depressed the rest of the day, when she was commanded to wear it. Cisneros best characterizes Rachel through her well use of her diction,imagery, and repetition.

The Little Rock Nine started in Central High School with: Melba Pattillo, Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Gloria Ray, Carlotta Walls, Thelma Mothershed, Terrence Roberts, and Jefferson Thomas.

Most curriculums being taught to students withhold a mass amount of history. Some may do this because they feel some events do not have the same importance as other topics being taught. Such topics for example would be the rape and sexual exploitation of thousands of African American females during the time periods where racism and segregation was the norm. It is important for people to be educated about the horrific events that these women went through without justice. It is also essential because it shows the amazing activism Rosa Parks took part in. Most people are often just taught about Parks’ actions on the bus. At the Dark End of the Street by Danielle L. McGuire shows how Rosa Parks and many other dedicated their lives to receive equality not only for themselves, but for all African Americans in the south. Danielle L. McGuire’s work is an amazing way for people to not only learn more of Rosa Parks story, but to get a better understanding of what all African American woman had to deal with during this time period. The realism of sexual violence and its dominant impact on the African American women was one of the many events that helped ignite the Civil Rights Movement. McGuire wrote At the Dark End of the Street in order to resolve the negligence of this reality.

The most important lesson for Rachel that comes out of this situation is that after wearing the disgusted sweater she has become even older, and it was tied to the experience instead of the birthday itself. She understands that it is the challenge she needs to grow up faster as she will receive additional benefits of behaving the way she wants and resisting to the outside irritators. As for the literature techniques, the author applies language, diction and symbolism to reveal the issues of experience, aging, knowledge, power, authority and freedom. The discovering is gaining age are conveyed with the help of the memories of eleven-year-old girl on her birthday. Rachel resists her humiliation from Mrs. Pierce, and that is the exact moment when her “smart eleven” comes as well[2].

Eleven is a very confusing age according o Rachel. She believes that when you are eleven you don't feel like it and on certain days act like a different age leading up to elven. In the short story Cisneros uses symbolism to show how soft spoken and shy Rachel is. There was a red hat in Rachel's classroom that her teacher believed was her's, because of her classmate Sylvia. Rachel was humiliated and felt very embarrassed,

In the novel The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, four Chinese mother-daughter pairs, each with her own unique story, have deep connections with each other. At the beginning of the novel they each seem like ordinary women, but as the novel progresses, it becomes clear that these women are more than just mothers, daughters, or wives; they can also be considered heroes according to Joseph Campbell. Joseph Campbell says a hero is someone who undergoes a departure, where the person is confronted with a problem that they must overcome; a fulfillment, where the person finally overcomes the problem; and a return, where the person passes on what they gain and learn from the experiences in the form of a "life-giving elixir"(Campbell). This “life-giving

Eleven Rachel is miserable because she is shy, regretful, and embarrassed. The story, “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros is categorized as realistic fiction, after all the story could happen in real life. In the short story it is Rachel’s eleventh birthday! The only thing is no one treats her like a new eleven year old. During class Mrs. Price asked the class if they recognized or knew who the sweater belonged to.

Age is another tool created by humans to keep track of time. It is used to know what level of education a child needs, when a person is officially an adult, can vote, can drive, and countless other things. To some, age is just a number. To others, age is extremely important. Age is a tool created by humans, but like time, it's very real, and age is exactly what the passage of "Eleven," by Sandra Cisnero, is all about.

“Well, what of it?” he said. Next year you’ll be eleven. And the next year twelve.” “I’m old enough to go on the Christmas hunt,” I said Incredibly, my father laughed. “At ten?” he said.

“Eleven” begins with a contradictory statement, about turning eleven, that even though you turn eleven one is still really ten underneath and that it takes awhile to really transition from being ten to being eleven. This premise that utilizes subtle irony is the basis of “Eleven”; that even though one is a certain age one can still revert back to another age, in actions and feelings only of course, in moments of insecurity. How the author uses irony in this particular piece is through connection with the reader, using the subtlety of the irony to introduce an exaggerated concept of a normal occurrence, one that anyone of any age can relate to. Usually in a story irony is an active part of the plot, although it usually does not actually interact or change the plot it just exists on a conceptual level to entertain or to point a subject out to the reader. “Eleven” is different in a way however, though the irony does only exist conceptual and is not active in “changing” the plot; but it does create the plot in the first place, which is allowing for the main character Rachel to actively make the feeling of emotion turn into a much more in depth action that doesn’t only apply to this certain classroom setting but to anyone of any age, thus proving the theme. For example, in the part of the story where Mrs. Price is investigating who the red sweater belongs too, and Rachel is in question directly by Mrs. Price and she acts in a timid manner as if she was four, when denying that it was hers. Then , when she is forced to put the sweater on and she starts to regress through her ages, and

Even when you grow old, you are still young. When you turn an age, you do not always feel that age, comparable to when your eleven you might still feel ten. You are allowed to feel younger and so many people do not understand that even when you get older, you will act younger at times. Being eleven also means you are one through ten. Meaning that at sometimes you will act almost like a younger version of yourself.

In the short story, “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros, a young child named Rachel experienced her eleventh birthday in a classroom. As the story progresses there is a change in the tone- from nonchalant to sadness to anger. Cisneros uses various forms of figurative language throughout “Eleven”, such as repetition, metaphors and similes, and symbolism.

Born in year 1990, Sarah Choo Jing who is a Singaporean is currently a student pursuing her Masters of Fine Arts in Fine Art Media at the University College London (Choo, 2014). She is a Multidisciplinary Fine Artist who has won the 3rd edition Julia Margaret Cameron Award during her participation at The Worldwide Photography Gala Awards in 2012 and was awarded with the Kwek Leng Joo Prize of Excellence in Still Photography Award in 2013 (Choo, 2014).