Comparison Of Riding The Tiger And The Scholarship Jacket

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“We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are.” J.K Rowling stated in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This powerful and inspiring quote establishes on how all humans make mistakes and they are not always perfect. It illustrates that the decisions one makes will help decide what kind of future will they face. In addition, this excerpt typifies the key to any situation by showing when times get tough, people need to make a decision about who they want to be. In the two short stories, “Riding the Tiger” and “The Scholarship Jacket”, Bunting and Salinas use descriptive dialogue as well as interesting plots in order to illustrate how some characters make decisions …show more content…
Throughout the text, it reveals the narrator, Martha, and her life working hard to achieve academic excellence, in hope to receive the scholarship jacket. However, people have discriminated against her due to her Mexican ethnicity and family status. Martha’s hopes and dreams to earn the scholarship jacket are in her visions prior to hearing a discussion between the principal and Mr. Schmidt about the jacket. Martha then realizes that the jacket was going to be given to Joann because “Joann’s father is not only on the Board, but he owns the only story in town”[.] In addition, Martha is notified that the jacket was going to be fifteen dollars. This had made her furious as well as believe that her principal in unjust, so she turns to her wise grandpa for advice. Martha’s grandpa believes “if you pay for it, it’s not a scholarship jacket[.]” He then asks Martha “what does a scholarship jacket mean” to help Martha see the scholarship jacket for what it truly is. After Martha talks to her grandpa, she continues to desire the jacket because “it represents eight years of hard work and expectation.” In the end, due to the great remarks of Martha’s grandpa, the principal is convinced that one should not pay for their own success. In the text it states, “ ‘I know, sir, but he said if I had to pay for it, then it wouldn’t be a scholarship jacket.’ ... ‘Okay. We’ll make an exception in your case. I’ll tell the board, you’ll get your jacket.’(231) From this evidence, it is clear that success is not something one should pay for, but instead by earning it. In addition, this excerpt indicates how the principal realized that Martha had deserved the jacket since she had put hard work and effort into it. Thus, one can learn that no matter what race, skin color, or

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