10-1: Acceptance of Self

CRITICAL ANALYTICAL RESPONSES: A HOW TO GUIDE

10-1: Acceptance of Self

CRITICAL ANALYTICAL RESPONSES: A HOW TO GUIDE

Critical Analytical Response to Literary Text

Modeling the Strategy with The Scarlet Ibis
What does the text suggest about the role adversity plays in shaping an individuals identity?
INTRODUCTION:
P: Through adversitytrials, tribulations, and distressan individual can have experiences
that lead to the shaping or alteration of their identity.
O: Usually, overcoming adversity can change a life for the better. Yet sometimes, through
witnessing the failure of others, the observer changes as well.
I: In the short story, The Scarlet Ibis, by James Hurst, the narrator, who is not named but
simply called Brother, recounts the life of his younger brother, William Armstrong,
who he calls Doodle. Doodle is born a sickly child who is not expected to live.
Brother wants someone who could run and jump and play with him but resents
having the weak and fragile Doodle instead.
N: Choosing to disregard Doodles adversity, Brother pushes him to his limits and eventual
Doodle succumbs to his weakness and dies.
T: Through the narration, Hurst develops the idea that adversity shapes Brothers identity
from insensitivity of Doodles condition through the tragedy of his death to empathy for
his difficult life.
BODY PARAGRAPH X 3
V: Life demands struggle. Those who have everything given to them become lazy, selfish,
and insensitive to the real values of life.
E: Doodle, though struggling with adversity, is a strong spirit. He wants to be all that he can
be for his brother and yet Brother does not see his true potential. He is so
insensitive to Doodles labours that he pushes him to his limits.
C: Brothers cruelty toward Doodle is best demonstrated when he says [i]t was bad enough
having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was
unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow[,]
(3) revealing that he would go so far as to take his own brothers life.
T: This is a clear indicator that Brothers identity is based on a system of physical and moral
superiority. When he looks at Doodle, all he can see is weakness; he places himself
above Doodle and chooses to judge him rather than understand him. He does not
recognize Doodles adversity and strengths that it brings himthe ability to endure.

10-1: Acceptance of Self

CRITICAL ANALYTICAL RESPONSES: A HOW TO GUIDE

O: REPEAT C & T TWO MORE TIMES

R: Unfortunately, Brother fosters this attitude up until Doodles death.
CONCLUSION:
T: Recognizing Doodles adversity helps to shape Brothers identity as he moves from being
insensitive of Doodles condition through to empathizing with his difficult life.
A: At first Brother can only see the weaknesses that Doodle possess but after his death he
realizes the strengths that were inherent all along.
R: While Doodle grapples with his physical adversity, the larger struggle in The Scarlet
Ibis is that Brother has to come to terms with his own preconceptions about what it
means to be strong.
G.E.T.: By understanding the difficulties of Doodle, Brother grows as a person. Ironically,
he is living proofsince Doodle diedthat recognizing and overcoming adversity
can change a life for the better.

Bruce Wayne
English 10-1
Mr. N. Crosby
March 27, 2015

Recognizing Adversity and How it Shapes Identity:

As Developed in James Hursts The Scarlet Ibis

Through adversitytrials, tribulations, and distressan individual can have experiences that
lead to the shaping or alteration of their identity. Usually, overcoming adversity can change a life for
the better. Yet sometimes, through witnessing the failure of others, the observer changes as well. In
the short story, The Scarlet Ibis, by James Hurst, the narrator, who is not named but simply called
Brother, recounts the life of his younger brother, William Armstrong, who he calls Doodle.
Doodle is born a sickly child who is not expected to live. Brother wants someone who could run
and jump and play with him but resents having the weak and fragile Doodle instead. Choosing to

10-1: Acceptance of Self

CRITICAL ANALYTICAL RESPONSES: A HOW TO GUIDE

disregard Doodles adversity, Brother pushes him to his limits and eventual Doodle succumbs to his
weakness and dies. Through the narration, Hurst develops the idea that adversity shapes Brothers
identity from insensitive of Doodles condition through the tragedy of his death to empathy for his
difficult life.
Life demands struggle. Those who have everything given to them become lazy, selfish, and
insensitive to the real values of life. Doodle, though struggling with adversity, is a strong spirit. He
wants to be all that he can be for his brother and yet Brother does not see his true potential. He is
so insensitive to Doodles labours that he pushes him to his limits. Brothers cruelty toward Doodle
is best demonstrated when he says [i]t was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one
who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering
him with a pillow[,] (3) revealing that he would go so far as to take his own brothers life. This is a
clear indicator that Brothers identity is based on a system of physical and moral superiority. When
he looks at Doodle, all he can see is weakness; he places himself above Doodle and chooses to judge
him rather than understand him. He does not recognize Doodles adversity and strengths that it
brings himthe ability to endure. Unfortunately, Brother fosters this attitude up until Doodles
death.
Recognizing Doodles adversity helps to shape Brothers identity as he moves from being
insensitive of Doodles condition through to empathizing with his difficult life. At first Brother can
only see the weaknesses that Doodle possess but after his death he realizes the strengths that were
inherent all along. While Doodle grapples with his physical adversity, the larger struggle in The
Scarlet Ibis is that Brother has to come to terms with his own preconceptions about what it means
to be strong. By understanding the difficulties of Doodle, Brother grows as a person. Ironically, he
is living proofsince Doodle diedthat recognizing and overcoming adversity can change a life for
the better.