made thing

Taking a story and breaking it apart piece by piece helps the readers understand the story a little better. As we broke down the three stories in class, it helped me better understand the work and the writer. The process of ingredients, process, and the made thing can be attributed to all of our readings. “A&P”, “Rites of Passage”, and “The one Girl at the Boys’ Party” are stories that once they are broken down to where it is easier to understand, they make the reader rethink about their opinions . If you break down the stories to their smallest parts the reader can compare and contrast the stories. Even though each story is different in its plot and storyline, they share the same structure. The ingredients are the raw material for any piece of literature; The process is how the author uses the ingredients to create the made thing; The made thing is the overall message of the story or what the reader is able to take away from the story.
In the story “A&P” a cashier, Sammy, tells the story of when he worked at a grocery story and what encountered after the girls walk in. It seems like the average story of a boy trying to impress girl, but as we take it apart it we start to realize its about more then that. The ingredients in “A&P” are as such; “bathing suits”, food items, and the summer setting, but the main ones are the characters Sammy, Queenie, and Mr. Lengel. These ingredients are mixed with the setting of a grocery store, and the presence of the girls to produce a clear picture for the reader. The process of adding all of these things together helps me to understand and connect with the characters more. Breaking down shows the relationship between the Sammy and the clique of girls, but at the same time it shows the problem that they all had with Mr. Lengel. Updike gave great details to the story to help the reader put together all the ingredients into a bigger picture. This made thing is the hero does the right thing, but for the wrong reasons.
The poem “Rites of Passage” can be interpreted in many different ways. Breaking down “Rites of Passage” into three parts helped me understand the different ways it can be viewed. Many of the ingredients are ironic like children being generals, turrets as small bankers, 7 year olds killing a two year old. Sharon Olds manages to combine the carelessness of small children with the very serious world of career men. Her careful planning and writing helps guide the reader to a better understanding of the children becoming men. It is her process of combining the traits of a child with the traits of a man and putting them into a smooth flowing poem that the reader can understand once they take apart “Rites of Passage”. The made thing that Olds creates is an ironic view of boys and their parallels to full grown men.
The last poem “The One Girl at the Boys’ Party” also has ingredients, process, and a made thing. It is the story of a girl at a swimming party with all boys that was told from the view of one of her parents. Olds includes ingredients like hamburgers and fries bating suit, strip to their suits, hard body, curves of the sexes, and math in the pool. Her process is one of irony just like “Rites of Passage”, comparing a little girl to math. She describes the girl and what the girl is thinking in a way that she should have not been able to understand at her age. Olds other process shows the reader that the girl is maturing more and more from the beginning of the poem to the end. The parent’s perspective of the poem tells the reader what the “made thing” could be that your children grow up fast.
All three stories have different characters, setting and plots, but in the end they have the same composition. They all have ingredients that were usually the characters. The processes were in the descriptions and the way the stories were written. The made thing was always involving growing up and learning from your mistakes. Breaking these stories down helps the reader visualize the story thus making them understand its true meaning.