Seventh Grade, written by Gary Soto, is a realistic fiction novel about a young boy named Victor and his many attempts to impress his crush, a girl named Teresa. Victor is starting seventh grade, and it is an exciting year, because Teresa is in many of Victor’s classes. However, catching Teresa’s attention is harder than Victor thought, let alone impressing her. Through many failed attempts to catch Teresa’s attention and impress her, Victor finally catches Teresa’s attention in French class, through pretending to know how to speak French. Though this is not an honest way of doing things, Victor’s actions eventually gets him what he wants. Through lies, love, and liaison, Victor is finally able to achieve what he wants. So without further ado, let us join Victor on his journey in seventh grade to pursue love.
Being true to yourself is important, for lying isn’t the honest way of achieving your goals/getting what you want. Often, us humans try covering up who we truly are by pretending to be someone that we’re not. To achieve this we lie, to cover up our imperfections. During French class, when the teacher, Mr. Buellerer asks, “Parlez-vous français?” Victor raises his hand, and speaks gibberish, trying to impress his crush, Teresa. Though his actions get Teresa’s attention and impress her, he still feels guilty, knowing that he lied. When Mr. Buellerer was young, he was also in a similar situation as he tried impressing his girlfriend by borrowing a new car each time he picked her up. However, in the end, he was broke, and his girlfriend also left him. Lying isn’t the correct way of reaching your goals and doing things. When you lie to cover up another lie, eventually, when the truth is exposed, things most likely won’t end well. Being true to yourself is an important part of having a good human nature.
Love can be expressed in many different ways/forms, and can mean different things to different people. What love means, and how it is expressed can mean different things to different people. In this story, love is represented through teenage love, and having a crush on someone. Having a crush on someone is a normal teenage feeling and should be cherished. Victor, the main protagonist of the story, has a huge crush on this girl at his school, Teresa. This makes love an important theme in the story. Victor shows his feelings towards Teresa by continuously trying to impress her. Different people have different thoughts & actions in scenarios like this. More extroverted people might start by becoming friends or asking them out. More introverted people may prefer to keep quiet and observe. Sometimes silence can speak more than words. And ambiverted people such as Victor may try to do little things to try to catch their crushes’ attention or to impress them. Love is a complicated aspect of life, and when you truly love someone, it is a time to be cherished and well observed.
Having a good liaison when you need it and being able to communicate without talking is an important part of life. A liaison is someone who helps build and maintain relationships and facilitates conversation. When you are a liaison, it is useful to be able to communicate without talking. Sometimes, in certain situations a good trustworthy liaison can save your neck from embarrassment. Mr. Buellerer acted as a liaison when Teresa was talking about having Victor tutor her in French. Mr. Buellerer knew that deep down Victor didn’t know how to speak French. However, when he and Victor makes eye contact, a relationship forms as Mr. Buellerer acts as a liaison between Victor and Teresa and doesn’t expose Victor. Mr. Buellerer’s kindness benefited Victor as he helped build a relationship, the relationship that Victor was hoping for. Ironically, they are in French class, and in French, a liaison is the pronunciation to link constants. In this case, Mr. Buellerer linked Victor and Teresa together. Having good communication is an important skill of being a liaison.
Lie, love, liaison are the central themes of the short story Seventh Grade, written by Gary Soto. Through lies, Victor pursues his crush, a young girl named Teresa. With the help of a liaison, Mr. Buellerer, Victor is able to achieve what he wants. However, in this process, Victor uses lies to cover up his imperfections. It is important to not be someone that we’re not. Throughout the story, the author, Gary Soto teaches us many important life lessons, about living a true and honest life. Let us take a peek into the life of a seventh grader, Victor, as he sets out on a mission to pursue love.
Comentarios