Course | AP English Literature and Composition
Unit | 1 - Short Fiction I
Teacher | Mr. Garside
"ELEVEN" BY SANDRA CISNEROS
CHR 1.A - Identify and describe what specific textual deta ils reveal about a
character, that character’s perspective, and that character’s motives.
A. Task
Read Cisneros' short story. Then, answer the following questions.
A1. What characterization strategies does Cisneros use to characterize Rachel?
She characterize Rachel using indirect characterization. According to Cisneros, “ I take it
off right away and give it to her, only Mrs. Price pretends like everything's okay.” We can
see that Rachel is actually kind and polite,maybe even a little bit of introversion. Although
she is framed up by the girl she doesn’t like and criticized by the teacher, she still doesn’t
shout out and point out that this sweater is not hers. After the class , when the real owner
of the sweater appears, she just give it to her and does not even blame that stupid girl for
not telling the truth.
A2. Which aspects of a character’s background contribute to how R achel perceives her
world?
Rachel comes from a loving family which we can get this through her own monologue:
“Mama is making a cake for me tonight, and when Papa comes home everybody will
sing Happy birthday, happy birthday to you.” Her parents love her , she is surrounded
by kindness and innocence and nobody had ever tell her how to deal with this situation.
A3. What motivates Rachel to feel the way she does about turning eleven?
(I hardly get what this question is talking about)
The unfairness motivates Rachel to feel the pain of growing up while she is turning eleven.
The way she treated is completely different from the past and she is painfully trying to learn
about how adult’s world is like: it is full of vilification, hypocrisy and unfair. The conflict of
the kindness she has always teaches to behave and the vilification she had been blamed is
troubling her and make her frustrated,