Learning to Drive Essay
Sample
AttentionGetter
Plot
summary
Theme
Intro lit
elements
Every year, more than 1,220,100 people are diagnosed with cancer. 36,600 of these
cases affect the limbs, including arms and legs. Although some cases can be cured by
chemotherapy, others require amputation to take care of the problem. While they still have
their lives, people who lose a limb often feel as though they have lost much more. Sadly.
34,000 people die each year from cancer in these areas. The short story "Learning to Drive",
written by Ron Rindo, tells the tale of one such unfortunate man. The protagonist, nameless
throughout the story, had his leg amputated because of the cancer that was threatening his
life. He comes home from the hospital with a prosthetic leg and a pair of silver crutches to be
greeted by his three children and his daughter's boyfriend, Neon. Everybody gives him gifts,
even Neon. At first it seems as though the protagonist has accepted his fate. He feels that his
life should go on as usual, including his independence in simple tasks such as taking a shower,
climbing the stairs, and walking the dog. One day, however, his doctors inform him that his
cancer has returned and he will die. Immediately, he slips into depression. At this point, the
protagonist is faced with the decision of whether to continue wallowing in self-pity or to
overcome his problem and live the rest of his life with an optimistic attitude. Throughout the
story there are certain items and events plainly incorporated into the story line that serve as
symbols for this process. They assist in explaining different emotions and situations that are
associated with working past barriers. Whether they are as simple as a floor or as complex as
learning how to drive, all of them have a profound impact on the effect the story will have on
the reader. Rindo effectively uses certain cars, items, and events in order to portray the
process of overcoming obstacles in life.
Thesis: lit elements
plus theme
Topic
•
Sentence:
element and
theme
In "Learning to Drive" different objects, such as the floor, the dismantled
Statue of Liberty puzzle, and the cemetery, illustrate the way that people
are able to overcome the various obstacles that they face during their
lives. Affected by a devastating event such as cancer, a person often ends
up battered by the emotional conflicts that accompany adversity. In the
Intro/explain same way, the floor was scuffed and dented where the protagonist had
supporting stumbled with his crutches. Thus, the floor represents the scars people
carry after they battle with crisis. Originally, the tile was in perfect
detail #1
condition. The protagonist says, "We have had the cleanest floors in the
Integrate
neighborhood for twenty-two years" (39). People can go through their
quote
lives with trivial problems—a money shortage, a broken leg—and
therefore have completely spotless surfaces until they find themselves
Explain
scarred by the difficulties they face, just as the floor was marked from the
quote
crutches, the result of the protagonist's struggle with cancer. In an
attempt to heal these scars, people will try whatever they can to remove
them. Elaine uses ammonia on the floor in an effort to clean the skidmarks and scratches. Just as in real life, the ammonia only makes the eyes
So What?
of the people around the area water; it only adds to the pain of the
situation. Although scars are inevitable when facing hurdles, people are
still able accomplish their goals.
Clincher:
element
and theme
Continue pattern for THREE supporting details
The tile floor, jigsaw puzzle, and cemetery are all symbols used to display
how people are able to overcome any obstacles they face with the right
amount of optimism.
• Ron Rindo has proven to his audience how his symbols of agony, faith, and
reconstruction are important to produce the chain of events that leads to
Restate
the final acceptance of the challenges created by cancer and other such
Thesis
hindrances. Sarah's red Pinto helps to show that nobody is perfect;
everybody has disastrous encounters with obstacles. Seeing the hearse
tells how death will be caused at some point by his cancer. The Toyota
Corolla that he and his wife drive symbolizes the effort it takes to
overcome How the protagonist's life falls apart is portrayed with the
Summarize amputation of his leg. The welcome home party assists in showing how
the family works together to accept his new life. The process of learning to
body
drive again symbolizes a new life and the overcoming of various
paragraphs
difficulties. Using the ruined tile floor, Rindo depicts the effect that
dilemmas have on a person. The puzzle depicting the Statue of Liberty's
revolution stands for the loss of freedom with the loss of this leg. A single
piece of the puzzle may be viewed as the time where the protagonist is
struggling to rise from the shadows of the inevitable. The cemetery speaks
as the final acceptance of where his cancer will eventually bring him.
Connect to Although this deadly disease affects over one million people every year,
many find ways of dealing with illness. Overcoming the difficulties
attentionproduced by cancer, millions of cancer victims, doomed to perish or not,
getter
adapt their lifestyles in order to continue living fulfilling and meaningful
lives.