Comparative Essay - the Glass Castle & About a Boy

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Comparative Literary Essay ENG 4U Kristen Blakey Name: Kristen B. Tentative Outline Sheet – Literary Essay THESIS: Walls and Hornby suggest that children are forced to grow up at a faster pace and assume different roles when they are faced with bad parenting. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument #1: Sometimes the most mature and responsible people in the family can be the children, not the parents. i) “We knew mom and dad wouldn’t get her presents, so we saved for months,” (Walls 206) ii) “’I’ve got bills pilling up… I’ve got kids to feed.’” (Walls 210) iii) After Marcus’ mom, Fiona, tried to commit suicide, everything had been starting to get back to normal. She wasn’t crying all the time anymore she was just always alone and Marcus felt like he had to take care of her but since he had school he couldn’t be there all the time. He then decides to call Will and set him and his mom up on a date so that Will can help take care of her. Argument #2: Poor and inattentive parenting styles teach children to learn by themselves and to be more independent. i) “I was on fire… I was only three years old… I was wearing the dress to cook hot dogs,” (Walls 9) ii) “Our apartment was bigger than the entire house on Little Hobart Street, and way fancier… we also had a kitchen with a working refrigerator and a gas stove… a toilet that flushed… and hot water that never ran out.” (Walls 247) iii) Marcus shows he is independent by signing up for the school rock concert after he notices his mother crying again. He is told many times that if he sings all the kids will tear him apart, but he doesn’t care. Marcus will do anything to try and help his mom get better. Fiona told him that when he sang it brought sunshine and happiness into her life, so he was

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