Essay/Term paper: Eleven

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Cliff Notes

"Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros, uses many literary devices to

characterize a complex eleven-year-old. Rachel, the

ingenuous 1st person narrator, relates the details of her

humiliating eleventh birthday. Although her diction reflects

her age, Rachel conveys the difficulty of growing up with

adult precision. She is embarrassed and feels helpless, but

knows she will soon be home with her parents, and her

terrible day will drift away. Rachel's age is given away not

only by the title, but by her word choice. She employs

numerous similes, describing crying like uncontrollable

hiccups, drinking milk to fast, and little animal noises. Her

confidence rattles like "pennies in a tin Band-Aid Box," and

she is always on the edge of lapsing into another session of

tears. However, Rachel's diction does not simple betray her

age. Descriptions like "smells like cottage cheese" are

insights into her true personality. She is passionate and

curious, almost to a fault. Because she describes things like

runaway balloons, she is a believable eleven-year-old. First

person narration reveals though Rachel's thoughts are those

of a typical eleven-year-old her descriptive ability is more

mature. Rachel has an uncanny ability to convey her feelings.

However, because she is an ingenuous narrator, she

sometimes misses the deeper significance of her feelings.

Although she twice mentions she is looking forward to cake,

her birthday song, and normal birthday things, she does not

mention she also needs the comfort of her parents. On the

other hand, unlike most older, or mature, people, she

understands enough about life experience to know she does

not have enough. Twice she mentions she would like to have

the experience of someone who is one hundred and two. At

eleven Rachel realizes that with experience comes

confidence, personal strength, and most important to her,

knowing what to do in hostile situations. As amazing as those

thoughts are, Rachel's most impressive thought is about age.

She understands that people display the characteristics of the

ages they have passed. She understands that although she is

eleven, she can still be scared like she is five, or cry like she

is three. What she does not grasp is that people can display

characteristics beyond their years. Rachel displays that

advanced maturity in her thoughts. The only dialogue in the

story is between Rachel and her teacher, Mrs. Price. Every

conversation is the same, Mrs. Price does not listen to

Rachel and dominates their conversations. Rachel associates

being right with being older, so she lets Mrs. Price have her

way. Mrs. Price is so dominating Rachel can respond with

what she calls her four- year-old voice. She stumbles for a

reply, eventually saying only, "Not mine, not mine." Rachel is

helpless and feels sick inside as she is forced to wear that

sweater. So much emphasis is given to what Rachel is

thinking, but the dialogue can show her outward personality.

Rachel is non-confrontational, timid, and shy. Rachel

desperately wants her terrible day to be over. She wants to

be one-hundred and two, because then days like this one

would be far behind. After she is brought to tears and

reluctantly she puts on the sweater and even though she did

not have to wear the sweater long, she is changed. She

realizes facing challenges is at the foundation of experience.

Her old self floats away like a balloon. Sandra Cisneros's

"Eleven" uses point of view, diction, dialogue, and symbolism

to characterize an eleven year old's coming of age. The

unique characteristics of an eleven- year-old have allowed

her to make important discoveries about growing up. Rachel

survives her humiliation, and becomes smart eleven. She

feels smart eleven, and a almost a year sooner than usual.

Rachel realizes that people are the sum of their experience.

She desperately wants to be one hundred and two, but

realizes that her experience adds up to eleven.