Grade 11 English Independent Study
Assignment 2: Growing up
1. A) & B) After finishing the selection titled “Eighteen” by Maria Banus, I was completed surprised on how genuine the authors feelings were. Normally when I read poetry it is difficult to understand the meaning of numerous amount of it, if not all of the lines but this one was different as if it pertained to me. This poem made me feel rather sad and miserable because there are a lot of grievances that one may bring up about growing into an adult. Everyone always says how enjoyable your teenage years are, how invigorating the experience is to live life to the fullest and to enjoy it before it comes to end, but a lot of people may disagree. This analogy is incorrect to …show more content…

I am eighteen”. This basically summarizes her innermost feelings on the outcome of growing up and that is that the person feeling like they should hypothetically drink life (enjoy it) as much as an alcoholic bum. But unfortunately the person still has to deal with certain types of aftermath acquired from growing up since she is “burnt” but concludes that she is now over the period in her life that has caused her desolation and wretchedness.

2. Prior to reading and even half way through this story the title made no sense, but after linking all the events that took place throughout the story together, it became very evident that the red dress ties everything together using symbolism. The red dress (a concrete object), more or less symbolizes the abstract idea of the transfer from adolescence to womanhood. Back then a red dress greatly represented female sexuality like a black dress does in today’s modern society. My personal analogy of the red dress is strongly backed up by a quote from the story, “My mother, never satisfied, was sewing a white lace collar on the dress; she had decided it was too grown-up looking… I saw how my breasts in their new stiff brasserie, jutted out surprisingly with mature authority, under the childish frills of the collar.” When looking at the theme behind the story itself you see that there is a major contrast between adolescence and