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'Symbolism In One Friday Morning'

Decent Essays

“One Friday Morning” There are two great symbolic and developed stories, one of them is the “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and the other is “One Friday Morning” by Langston Hughes. “The Lottery includes suspense as well as detailed settings and characters. Even though “The Lottery” is a very suspenseful story and is filled with deep truths, “One Friday Morning” should be kept for the 1940’s unit because it includes less violent settings and is more symbolic throughout the story. Overall, “One Friday Morning” is the best short story for the 1940’s unit because it helps the reader picture the symbolic meaning, and it hooks the reader to want to know more of Nancy Lee’s tragic art award.
The first reason why “One Friday Morning” is the best …show more content…

Nancy Lee had said, “One hand went to the heart, the other outstretched toward the flag. Three thousand voices spoke. Among them was the voice of a dark girl whose cheeks were suddenly wet with tears, “... one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” That is the land we must make,” she thought” (18). This evidence shows that Nancy Lee had been deeply troubled by the news from Miss O’Shay, so at the end she felt that the Pledge of Allegiance was not fair for everybody. That shows symbolism because the words in the Pledge of Allegiance are not true for everybody and Nancy was noticing that there is no liberty and justice for all. This would be a great scene for the unit because it makes the reader think about how life back in the 40’s was not fair to everybody, mostly colored people. In the 40’s there were many restrictions in schools, restaurants, and community places for dark people. Nancy could understand how other people like her could feel, so she also wants to fight for her liberty and justice. But, some peers would say that this is not a very strong …show more content…

Before the award was taken from her, on page 16, it states “Perhaps, Nancy Lee thought, the reporters from the papers had already come. Maybe they wanted to take her picture before assembly, which was not until ten o’clock.” This evidence states that Nancy Lee was very nervous and worried about why she was being called into Miss O’Shay’s office, this evidence also makes the reader think and wonder what will happen to Nancy once she steps foot into Miss O’Shay’s room. The evidence leaves the reader with a need to know why Nancy had been called down. It also mentions about the news reporters. In the 1940’s, there were many editors and reporters for the newspaper. This could teach students about why Nancy Lee might have thought there were reporters instead of modern-day principal visits which would be mostly for behavior. Going back to the evidence, Nancy Lee had no clue why she was being called down to the principal's office. Furthermore, after Nancy was called down to the principal's office (Miss O’Shay’s) and given the news, the story had stated, “To the brown girl there in the chair, the room grew suddenly smaller, smaller, smaller, and there was no air. She could not speak” (17). This evidence illustrates that Nancy did not know how to react to the news and

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