Cherry Bomb Essay

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An Innocent Fifth Grade Summer Elementary school is a major part of your childhood, especially the fifth grade. Its when your almost at the top of the food chain, but don’t have all the pressure of going into a frightening and new environment, the seventh grade. Although the school year holds many fun things, the most thrilling event is summer vacation. “Cherry Bomb”, by Maxine Clair, reveals how innocent and joyous the narrator’s fifth grade summer was through hyphenated speech and strong symbolism. Theses techniques characterize the narrator as a happy but naive child. Innocence is prime during the narrator’s childhood and we can prove this through the hyphenated and childlike speech. The “Daddy-said-so-fact” and the “wooly-headed [man]” are two major identifiers of a childlike innocence. Saying something is a “Daddy-said-so-fact” implies that you are a child who relies solely on their parents. The word “Daddy” also reveals how young she is to call her father daddy. Her innocence is primarily shown when she discuss the “wooly-headed [man]”. This man is equivalent to the boogey man in that he roams the night and scares young children. The “hairy man”, is presumed to be an actual person, but his mythical like qualities make him appear to be a monster running wildly through the dark. The narrator’s innocence is shown through the boogey man figure because most children don’t know about the real monsters of the world. Hidden in the depths of a closet lies a cigar box full of treasures. The cigar box symbolizes the need and want for privacy. All people have their secrets and boxes full of moments. The narrator’s private box of things was full of cherished items and happy memoires. The cherry bomb symbolized that after a tragedy, such as being hit in the eye and becoming blind, you can still continue on and get back up. The narrator looks up to her cousin, Eddy,

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