Growing up is a necessary process in our life. There are three interesting stories about this theme. “Too Soon a Woman” was written by Dorothy M. Johnson, it was mainly about a family of four heading westward to the mountains, they met a brave girl called Mary. The story mentioned the duration of the kids and Mary in the woods until father was back. “President Cleveland, Where Are You?” was written by Robert Cormier, it was mainly about a group of kids in the great depression who loved cowboy cards, and a boy called Jerry changed himself from selfish into generous. “The Challenge” was written by Gary Soto, it was mainly about a boy in grade eight called José who tried to get the attention of a new girl in his school called Estela, but finally he failed.
Growing up is an obvious and critical process that happens to teenagers the most, this is the time when they learn things from failures and be mature. In the story “Too Soon a Woman”, both the narrator and his father have their misunderstanding and prejudice against Mary. But actually, she was responsible and caring. She ate the mushroom herself because she wanted to make sure it was safe for the kids to eat. The story “President Cleveland, Where Are You?”Jerry was addicted to collecting cards. He would rather use the money to buy cards than buy a birthday gift for his father, but he then realized how selfish he was and felt guilty. In the story “The Challenge”, Jose pursued the new girl, Estela. He failed no matter which method, because he has the wrong thinking of females, which he thought girls are all sympathetic and weak. They found their own mistakes after the failure or misunderstandings. They learned how to be mature and eliminate prejudice, this is the true meaning of growing up.
Growth transfers people from childish to mature, during this process of transformation, a lot of necessary changes happened. In the story “Too Soon a Woman '', the eleven – year old narrator had the external thought about the action of not giving him the mushroom. But after, he changed his view of Mary. In the story “President Cleveland, Where Are You?”Jerry changed himself from a selfish boy who wanted to use the money for buying the cards to a generous person who was willing to sacrifice what he likes for his family. In the story “The Challenge '', Jose changed his view of girls from weak and delicate, he realized that girls’ power can beat boys too. The process of growing up will make us contemplate about our immature original thoughts, and change our wrong viewpoints once before, this is the function of growing up.
During the process of growing up, conflict is indispensable. It is conflicts that teach us lessons and help us understand morals. In the story “Too Soon a Woman”, the author and his sisters were left in the woods by their father, they had to face the powerful nature, starvation, and other small difficulties. This situation forces the author to stay calm and take care of his sisters. In the story “President Cleveland, Where Are You?”, not only Jerry, the whole of America was facing poverty during the great depression. Poverty limits people’s choices, and Jerry has to choose how to spend his money. He first chose to buy cards, but that made him feel guilty, so he used the money to help his brother in the end. In the story “The Challenge”, Jose pursued Estela, but he failed using every method he could think of. After the failure, he considered himself about the thoughts of Estela, and whether he really likes Estela. Nobody wants to fail again and again, so conflicts force people to think and reflect on themselves. This is very important, because we need conflicts and failures to help us grow.
In conclusion, growing up is a necessary process in our life. Growing up is an obvious and critical process that happens to teenagers the most, this is the time when they learn things from failures and be mature. They found their own mistakes after the failure or misunderstandings. They learned how to be mature and eliminate prejudice, this is the true meaning of growing up. Growth transfers people from childish to mature, during this process of transformation, a lot of necessary changes happened. The process of growing up will make us contemplate about our immature original thoughts, and change our wrong viewpoints once before, this is the function of growing up. During the process of growing up, conflict is indispensable. Nobody wants to fail again and again, so conflicts force people to think and reflect on themselves. This is very important, because we need conflicts and failures to help us grow.
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