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Check It Out! : Thank You Ma’am By Langston Hughes

Use this link to reach the story:

http://staff.esuhsd.org/danielle/english%20department%20lvillage/rt/Short%20Stories/Thank%20You,%20Ma’am.pdf 

The story talks about a poor boy named Roger who only wanted blue suede shoes. He plans to steal a purse from a lady called Miss Luela Bates Jones  to be able to get the money to pay for it, ten dollars. Instead of getting the boy in trouble and turning him in to the police, she takes him in and teaches him a valuable lesson. She provides him with clean water to clean himself and a nice plate of food. After he leaves with the 10 dollars he wanted for the shoes from the lady. Although he never sees her again, his life is forever changed.

Many themes are present in this Story. The most prominent one is the theme of Forgiveness. The story teaches us that it is important to find kindness in our hearts for the people that do wrong. It teaches us that forgiveness has the power to change somebody’s wrong doing. The story tells us that forgiveness gives us a larger view of the society. Forgiveness made Miss Bates become a role model for Roger a person who had no one to look up to. 

The author uses many elements to enhance the overall theme of short story. Some examples include rhetorical devices such as, a hyperbole, a rhetorical question and imagery. A hyperbole is a highly exaggerated statement that creates emphasis, but is necessarily true. This can be shown through this quote: “She was a large woman with a large purse that had everything in it but, hammer and nails.”. Emphasis is created on the purse by exaggerating the fact that it doesn’t have a hammer in nails in it. This hyperbole enhances the overall theme of the story because it shows us that no matter the size, shape or appearance of the person, they can still have the power of forgiveness. A rhetorical question is a question that engages the reader and makes them think about a particular idea. This can be seen through this quote: “Was I bothering you when I turned that corner?”. The particular idea of this question is if it was bothering that the boy turned around the corner. This rhetorical question enhances the overall theme because it shows how discussing the problem can lead to forgiveness and a good lesson learned. Imagery is the use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas. This can be seen through this quote:”He looked as if he were fourteen or fifteen, frail and willow-wind, in tennis shoes and blue jeans.”. Figurative language is used to describe rogger. This imagery enhances the overall theme of the story because it allows the reader to see how forgiveness can be a good role model to weak people and people that are in need.

How did you like the story? What do you think the overall theme was? What other Rhetorical elements do you think enhance the overall theme? Comment down below and express your opinion.

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

  • Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
  • Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

  • Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
  • What topics do you think you’ll write about?
  • Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
  • If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.

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