Donna Nguyen

A.P. English
Essay
"A story must be exceptional enough to justify its telling; it must have something more
unusual to relate than the ordinary experience of every average man and oman." !!"homas
#ardy. $ agree ith this %uote &''( because most people don)t li*e to see something they see
everyday. $n order for a story to be orth reading+ it must possess originality because if
everything ere to be the same+ then it ouldn)t be interesting. $n both A Child Called It and
Invisible Man the authors used literary techni%ues such as imagery and flashbac* to demonstrate
atypical experience that common people ouldn)t encounter. ,hen the author demonstrates
unusual experiences through its diction and be able to ma*e the reader feel sympathy+ it ma*es a
story outstanding. A Child Called It is a story about a young boy ho as harshly abused by
his alcoholic mother; this is a true story and not many people come forard to tell their story. $n
his boo*+ there are so many creations of imagery that allo the readers to feel the pain the boy
did. Invisible Man tal*s about hat it as li*e for an African American man in the &-.'s and
ho life is li*e after slavery ended. "he narrator in this boo* used demonstrates ho a person
may have to go through a lot in order to find success at the end of the tunnel.
$n A Child Called It his mother has beaten David Pel/er pretty badly. 0he loved
playing 1games2 that ould hurt him; for instance+ she ould even loc* him inside the bathroom
ith a buc*et of chemicals that burns the inside of his throat to the point here it as ra. #e
mentions ho his mother anted to burn his entire body over the stove. David says+ 13other
held it in the orange!blue flame. 3y s*in seemed to explode from the heat. $ could smell the
scorched hairs from my burnt arm.24Pel/er 5&6. "his is something that no one ould ever
imagine a mother doing to her on child. Dave 4author6 put in a great deal of descriptions to
inform the readers of hat as happening at that exact moment; hat the flames and his s*in
loo*ed li*e+ and hat the burning hair smelled li*e. "he author used visual imagery here to
evo*e emotion from the reader. "he readers can feel the pain and sorro that David is going
through and the imagery created by the author attracts the reader to read more. Not everyday do
you read a boo* about a mother burning her son)s arm over a gas stove+ let alone abuse the child
in a very cruel ay here he ishes for her to just *ill him. "his unusual mother!son behavior is
hat ma*es this story extraordinary.
7urther spea*ing of A Child Called It+ David reminded himself that not all of his life
as so bad. 18n some days hen father as or*ing+ mom ould ta*e us on exciting sight!
seeing tours around the cite. 8ne day+ she too* us to 9hinaton in 0an 7rancisco. As e drove
around the area+ 3om told us about the culture and history of the 9hinese people2 4Pel/er &-6.
#ere the author uses flashbac* to ma*e the reader thin* that David)s mother asn)t alays bad+
and that she probably had some personal issues+ hich led up to her alcohol abuse. Alcohol
abuse is an issue that many Americans may face due to some incidents they may have gone
through or itnessed in the past; #oever+ many readers may not have gone through this
experience hich ma*es this memoir more fascinating.
Another great novel is Invisible Man, hich is basically about an African American man
ho or*ed his ay up to success. "he narrator in this boo* believes that he is invisible to the
hite people. After not being able to go to college after something he has done+ the narrator goes
to Ne :or* ith 1letters of recommendation2 for jobs that actually turned out to be the
opposite. After being told that the letters ere about the narrator being expelled from school+ the
intervieer tells him that he can get him a job at a paint store. ;ater on+ the narrator as offered
a job to be one of the spea*ers for the <rotherhood organi/ation that he ended up ta*ing on. $n
the novel the narrator says+ 1"hen it as brighter and $ could see a spotlight bla/ing the smo*y
ha/e. ,e moved silently+ <rother =ac* folloing to very blac* Negroes and to hite men
ho the procession+ and no the roar of the crod seemed to rise above us+ flaring louder2
4Ellison ..>6. As readers can tell+ this isn)t a common thing to see. "he narrator ent from being
a 1nobody2 to a ell!*non spea*er ho people loved to hear spea*. "he ay the narrator ent
through the obstacles ithout *noing hat ill happen in the end is remar*able because in the
end he found hat he truly anted for himself. "o become a spea*er asn)t a part of his plan+
because good things come to those ho ait. 0ome people are alays in a rush to find ho they
are+ but in reality a person must go through many things for that to happen. 7rom this+ readers
can ta*e the lesson that a person may ant to completely change themselves but it may not be
the best choice.
As a final point+ $ agree ith "homas #ardy and $ do actually believe that a boo* needs
to be different and have originality in order for it to be extraordinary. $t)s li*e a teacher reading
an essay; the essay must be different for the teacher to notice it out of all the other essays. As
mentioned before+ if everything ere to be the same it ill be boring. ?nusual instances provo*e
curiosity and interest for reader to be dran into the boo*. Authors ant the readers to say
1,o@2 at the end of it. $f the boo* didn)t leave the reader speechless in a good ay at the end+
then to the person ho read the boo* it as just li*e any other boo* they have read in their life.
Aiven these points+ A Child Called It and Invisible Man are not your everyday boo*s. "hese
to novels are different from any others that you may come across and read. A Child Called It
tells us about a child ho as abused from ages four to telve ho found the courage to survive
and not give up or lose hope. $t leaves us readers ith vivid images of the child horrible
upbringing. $f a young child can do that+ it shos the reader that simply giving up is not the
anser. "he same goes ith Invisible Man+ there ill be success in the end if you don)t give up
and try your best at everything you do.
Works Cited
&. Pel/er+ Dave. A Child Called "It" One Child's Courage to Survive. DeerfieldB #eath
9ommunications+ &--C. Print.
D. Ellison+ Ealph. Invisible Man. Ne :or*B Fintage $nternational+ &--C. Print.