The First Day
”The First Day”
Characterization of the narrator The narrator of the story is 5 years old and from the low end of the social rank. She probably doesn’t have so many material opportunities, because her family are getting public assistance payments. Her father left her and her mother, she tells us: “…the last present my father gave before he disappeared into memory.” It seems like she a gentle girl and not so boisterous. When she meets a new person she doesn’t feel comfortable with being overwhelmed by kindness. I think the narrator is a round person. She describes both her feelings, her taste in clothing and gives us detailed inside in what her first day at school is like. However I wouldn’t say she a totally round person, because we still need to get more details about her past. Also it would be nice to get a slightly better knowledge in what she thinks about the whole “school situation.”
Settings In the beginning of the short story the narrators mother attempts to get the narrator into a school called “Seaton Elementary School.” Unlike the school the narrator ends up going to, is Seaton a school for people with a higher social status. You can tell that by the description of one of the employees who stands inside the front door and greeting everyone welcome. She is described as very elegant dressed with expensive jewelry and a very strong smell of perfume. The teacher who is greeting the narrator and her mom welcome is a bit overwhelming according to the narrator. “…she acts as if she had known me all my life, touching my shoulder, cupping her hand under my chin.” There is no doubt that we are in a place with good and highly motivated teachers.
It’s a common and increasing problem in the US that there is to big of a difference in the quality of the schools in light of the area it’s located in, so it´s very understandable that the mother want her daughter to go to the best possible school. So
Characterization of the narrator The narrator of the story is 5 years old and from the low end of the social rank. She probably doesn’t have so many material opportunities, because her family are getting public assistance payments. Her father left her and her mother, she tells us: “…the last present my father gave before he disappeared into memory.” It seems like she a gentle girl and not so boisterous. When she meets a new person she doesn’t feel comfortable with being overwhelmed by kindness. I think the narrator is a round person. She describes both her feelings, her taste in clothing and gives us detailed inside in what her first day at school is like. However I wouldn’t say she a totally round person, because we still need to get more details about her past. Also it would be nice to get a slightly better knowledge in what she thinks about the whole “school situation.”
Settings In the beginning of the short story the narrators mother attempts to get the narrator into a school called “Seaton Elementary School.” Unlike the school the narrator ends up going to, is Seaton a school for people with a higher social status. You can tell that by the description of one of the employees who stands inside the front door and greeting everyone welcome. She is described as very elegant dressed with expensive jewelry and a very strong smell of perfume. The teacher who is greeting the narrator and her mom welcome is a bit overwhelming according to the narrator. “…she acts as if she had known me all my life, touching my shoulder, cupping her hand under my chin.” There is no doubt that we are in a place with good and highly motivated teachers.
It’s a common and increasing problem in the US that there is to big of a difference in the quality of the schools in light of the area it’s located in, so it´s very understandable that the mother want her daughter to go to the best possible school. So