essay 5

Sam

English

Mr. Salsich

10/12/10

What Would You Do?:

An Essay About Finding a Lost Parent After Twenty Years.

Being separated from any parent for 20 years and thinking they had died would be hard enough. But then being told they are alive and asked if you want to see them would be an exciting event. I think that moment would be the happiest of my life.

TS- In chapter six of A Tale of Two Cities, Lucie Manette meets her father for the first time in twenty years, Dickens has a number of ways to portray the emotions of this event. SD-One way Dickens shows these emotions is by using suspense. CM- Throughout this chapter the shoemaker inched closer and closer to finally realizing that Lucie Manette was indeed his daughter.CM- Time and time again, he lost interest and went back to making his shoe, “In the midst of the action he went astray, and, with another deep sigh, fell to work at his shoemaking”. (Dickens 46) SD-Another way Dickens shows emotion is by using similies.CM- Dickens states, “His cold white head mingled with her radiant hair, which warmed and lightened it as though it were the light of freedom”.(Dickens 48) This nice sentence proves that Lucie Manette’s dad may still remember her.SD Lastly, Dickens displays emotion by using repetition which is an extremely powerful tool.CM- In an effort to make her dad remember her, she repeats some of the most powerful words in the book, “weep for it, weep for it”. (Dickens 48) CS-Lucie Manette is in a very tough situation, filled with years of crying, filled with years of tears, too much information to absorb, but now, tears of joy, how in the world does Dickens explain this anomalous event so perfectly.

TS- After twenty years of believing my parents were dead, and then have a stranger come up to me and say they are alive, I would have mixed emotions. SD- My first emotion would be shock and disbelief that they are still alive. CM- Knowing they were alive would release a wave of happiness that would completely consume me. CM- I think most people would be completely taken back in shock if their parents that supposedly died twenty years ago are still alive. SD- After I had finally taken in the situation, I would be mad. CM-Missing twenty years of fun memories with my parents would get me angry. CM- All I would be able to think about is all the great times we could of had, and how somebody stole those moments away from me. SD- Since I haven’t seen them in twenty years, my last emotion would be anxiousness. CM-Waiting to reunite with them after all that time would be harder than falling asleep on Christmas Eve. CM- I don’t know how I could function through the day knowing I would soon see my thought to be dead parents. CS I would be in shock that my parents were still alive, a rush of anger would flash into me, mad at the person that stole them from me, robbing me of precious memories that could have been, drowning me in anxiousness, and holding me back from seeing my parents.

If someone came to you and said your parents that died 20 years ago are still alive, what would you do? Would you jump up in excitement, or be shocked with surprise? All these emotions were running through Lucie Manette when she learned her father was still alive.

Self Assessment- I think I did good on this essay because I worked hard and checked over my writing numerous times. I believe, since I took my time, and carefully checked my work, I will have no mistakes. My week point that I need to work on is my commas. I still struggle on finding out where to put them. I think I deserve a B- for this essay.