The Michelle I Know
Regier 1
Brad Regier
Mr. Weston
ENG2D
26 February 2014
The Michelle I Know
In the short story The Michelle I Know, Michelle is a negative character. Her negativity is evident throughout many events in the short story but one example is when Brenda (a nurse) tells her to cheer up because her blood tests are looking good. Michelle’s answer to this positive information is her sour response, “I get to go home and wait six months before I have enough hair to do anything with.” Michelle has leukemia and has been hospitalized for eight weeks.
During this time her spirit is depressed and she can only think of the negative in her life rather than on the positives (she gets to go home and blood work is looking good). One day, Michelle visits Claude (another cancer patient who has been in and out of the hospital for eight years battling cancer) and asks him if he ever feels like dying rather than getting poked by another needle. Again,Michelle shares her negativity and lack of hope. When Michelle’s best friend Rob visits her at the hospital she starts to feel happy but when he leaves she is stuck with a needle in her arm and lying in a bed miserable and feeling sorry for herself again. She thinks about dying so she won’t have to be poked with another needle instead of being thankful that she is receiving medicine that could save her life. When Michelle is placed in these difficult life situations she continually focuses on the worst, adds negative comments in conversations and feels sorry for herself. If Michelle continues to focus on the negative, she may make it difficult for others around her to be supportive and she may have a more difficult time fighting leukemia.
Brad Regier
Mr. Weston
ENG2D
26 February 2014
The Michelle I Know
In the short story The Michelle I Know, Michelle is a negative character. Her negativity is evident throughout many events in the short story but one example is when Brenda (a nurse) tells her to cheer up because her blood tests are looking good. Michelle’s answer to this positive information is her sour response, “I get to go home and wait six months before I have enough hair to do anything with.” Michelle has leukemia and has been hospitalized for eight weeks.
During this time her spirit is depressed and she can only think of the negative in her life rather than on the positives (she gets to go home and blood work is looking good). One day, Michelle visits Claude (another cancer patient who has been in and out of the hospital for eight years battling cancer) and asks him if he ever feels like dying rather than getting poked by another needle. Again,Michelle shares her negativity and lack of hope. When Michelle’s best friend Rob visits her at the hospital she starts to feel happy but when he leaves she is stuck with a needle in her arm and lying in a bed miserable and feeling sorry for herself again. She thinks about dying so she won’t have to be poked with another needle instead of being thankful that she is receiving medicine that could save her life. When Michelle is placed in these difficult life situations she continually focuses on the worst, adds negative comments in conversations and feels sorry for herself. If Michelle continues to focus on the negative, she may make it difficult for others around her to be supportive and she may have a more difficult time fighting leukemia.