Blog 2: Option 4

In the piece "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros, the main character Rachel experiences extreme embarrassment when her teacher requires her to wear an ugly sweater that is not hers. Rachel feels uneasy when her classmates tease her and bullied when her teacher, Mrs. Price, places the sweater on her desk. As class progresses, Rachel expresses her embarrassment as she, "... moves the red sweater to the corner of my desk with my ruler. I move my pencil and books and eraser as far from it as possible. I even move my chair a little to the right. Not mine, not mine, not mine". Not only does the social teasing make her uncomfortable, but the sweater itself in her physical presence causes great stress, to the point to tears.

I can relate to Rachel's embarrassment among her classmates. When I was in second grade, I struggled to keep my "B's" and "D's" straight, often getting the two letters confused in my writing. My teacher taped a picture of a bumble bee with the letter "B" next it on my desk. Although she placed it there to help me remember to use my phonetics, it made me extremely embarrassed. I felt insecure because none of the other kids in my class had this taped to their desk. It was a constant reminder that I was not good at this specific skill. When my table mates asked me why I had such a thing taped on my desk I would often lie, saying that I didn't know why it was there or tell them that I didn't need it. I would often place my books on top of it to hide the fact that I struggled with my spelling. Often times, my teacher would come and remove my books and explain to me the purpose of having the tool visible. Although this might not as as extreme a case as in "Eleven", I still felt the same emotions that Rachel faced.