Addison walked into the school. The 13 year old girls standing by the door glanced her way, rolled their eyes, and went back to their conversation. Addison approached her locker, trying to see down the hallway without anyone noticing. She was looking for her friend, her only friend, but she wasn’t there, for the fourth day in a row. Addison decided to just go to her first period class and try to make is seem like she had homework and that’s why she was there so early.
That Addison is just walking with her head down. Doesn’t she realize that people can see her? A mouse must’ve eaten her sweater. She does this everyday. That girl doesn’t have any friends. She’s going to class way early.
The days went by like this. When Addison went home she would run to her room, fling herself on the bed and cry for an hour. Her mother knew she was up there crying, but she didn’t know what to do. She wanted to help. One day, she decided to just go for it and she let herself into Addison’s room.
“Honey, what’s the matter?” she asked her daughter.
“Nothing Mom. Go away!”
“Sweetie, I’m not going away. I’m going to help you, because it kills me to hear you up here crying everyday.”
Addison lifted her head from her pillow and looked at her mom through teary eyes. “Why would you want to help me? I’m a loser,” she said.
Taken aback, her mom wracked her brain for what she could say to that. “You are not a loser Addison Rose. Why would you ever think that?”
“I see the way kids look at me mom. They’re judging me because I have no friends and because I eat lunch alone and go to class way before the bell rings. They think I’m a loser.”
“Addison, don’t let those kids make you a loser. That’s what they’re doing. They’re making you feel like a loser. You’re not actually a loser,” her mom said.
“Mom, I want to be popular. That’s all I want.”
“Baby, being popular isn’t everything.”
Addison looked at her with a furious look. “Yes it is! Just go away!” she yelled.
After her mother left, Addison looked into the mirror and all she saw was the bright red, puffy face of a loser. She thought about what her mom had said. The idea that stuck in her head the most was that she was whatever the popular kids judged her to be. Looking at her ceiling she started talking.
“Is it so much to want to be popular? It’s not like those popular girls are even that pretty. They’re actually kind of ugly. Their hair looks fake and they’re orange from all of the fake tanning. And those stupid jock boys. They’re all really dumb. They don’t deserve to be popular. Other than being good at sports, they’ve got nothing going for them. All of those people would be lucky to be my friend. They’re just too dumb to realize it; like they’re too dumb to pass the 7th grade. I’m so much smarter and prettier than all of them.”
Although her ceiling wasn’t talking back, Addison was feeling better about herself. She was realizing that she was better than those popular kids and she could be one of them any day she really tried.
The next day, Addison walked into the middle school, turned to look at the group of popular girls, and walked right up to them. Feeling better about herself, she began to talk to them as if they weren’t good enough.
Theme: Judging others by comparing them to oneself gives human a feeling of power and superiority over the judged.
Techniques
Confidant: Addison’s mother is her confidant. From her conversation with her mother, we learn that Addison wants to be popular more than anything. Pheoby is Janie’s confidant and we learn things about Janie and her feelings through the conversation she has with Pheoby, like we learn things about Addison through her conversation with her mother.
Apostrophe: Addison talks to her ceiling and from this “conversation” the tone changes to one of judgment. Addison is starting to judge the popular kids. We learn things about Addison’s thoughts and her feelings through her dialogue to her ceiling. Hurston uses an apostrophe when Janie is talking about Tea Cake and she is trying to be mad at him. When Janie does this, we learn about her thoughts and feelings towards Tea Cake.
Short Sentences: In the second paragraph short sentences are used. This is to convey the tone of judgment. It is to make it seem as if each sentence is a different person’s thought and they are all judging Addison. In the first paragraph of chapter 12 Hurston does this as well. She uses short sentences while talking about Janie and Tea Cake. This creates the tone of judgment and makes it seem as if different people in the town are judging her.
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