Essay On Connections To Walter's Life

There were several connections that I drew between the story and the outside world. The first part of the story that I was able to connect to my life was when Walter’s mother was upset with his bad grades in arithmetic (Chapter 4). The text states, “Frank, a graduate from a black college and a commercial artist, volunteered to help me with arithmetic, in which I had received my lowest mark.” This quote really connects to my personal and academic life because math is also my weakest subject, and if I bring home a bad grade, my mom also gets upset. At this point in the story, Walter blames his teacher for the bad marks he received, and this shows an external conflict because Walter had trouble with another person. Before this part of the story took place,
The conflict between Walter and his injury is an external conflict, because he tore his incision open by riding a bike outside, rather than fighting his own conscience, which would be man vs. self. Another connection I drew between Chapter 5 and today’s world, and even school, was that even in Walter’s time, kids could be mean. Walter mentions that kids in his class would make fun of his speech impediment, and this would make him upset or even angry. The text states, “I read quickly, and there was a chorus of laughter in response. They were laughing at my speech.” This connects to school today because kids still often make mean comments about one another, laugh at each other, or say hurtful things to hurt other kids’ feelings. In this story before, Walter mentioned his impediment, and I predicted that this would pose a problem later on in the story. This conflict is external because Walter faces ridicule from his peers rather than a difficulty within his mind. Therefore, many connections were able to be made between the story and outside