100 POINTS PLUS
Oranges
The first time I walked
With a girl, I was twelve,
Cold, and weighted down
With two oranges in my jacket.
December. Frost cracking
Beneath my steps, my breath
Before me, then gone,
As I walked toward
Her house, the one whose
Porch light burned yellow
Night and day, in any weather.
A dog barked at me, until
She came out pulling
At her gloves, face bright
With rouge. I smiled,
Touched her shoulder, and led
Her down the street, across
A used car lot and a line
Of newly planted trees,
Until we were breathing
Before a drugstore. We
Entered, the tiny bell
Bringing a saleslady
Down a narrow aisle of goods.
I turned to the candies
Tiered like bleachers,
And asked what she wanted -
Light in her eyes, a smile
Starting at the corners
Of her mouth. I fingered
A nickle in my pocket,
And when she lifted a chocolate
That cost a dime,
I didn’t say anything.
I took the nickle from
My pocket, then an orange FIRST QUESTION 1. What is the main conflict in this poetry? What is the main character dealing with?2. How does the character change or grow as a person? What does he learn from this experience?3. What could be a theme-lesson of this text?and 4.4. Make a connection to this text and explain. It can be any type of connection.

Explanation:

1. Gary Soto used imagery to support the theme "people have compassion for others." The boy didn't have enough money for the chocolate so he gave up an orange to help pay for it.

2. Oranges is a poem that focuses on the feelings and thoughts of an adolescent boy about to meet up with a girl. The weather doesn't help his cause but to the rescue so to speak come the oranges, full of warmth and color. They are the symbols of hope and confidence.

3. Love is one of the first and foremost theme of Oranges, written by Gary Soto. In this poem, a young boy walks for the first time with a girl, at the innocent age of twelve. He sacrifices an orange for his lady-love. He does not deny her wish, rather, gives up his nickel and orange to make her happy.

4. They become symbolic of the innocent, young love he has for her. For the speaker, a dime is a lot of money. He clearly has the two oranges for them, but the girl wants chocolate. Since he only has a nickel, he uses the orange.

i love cake

and don't hate

i know i'm fat

but what's wrong with that

i cant rap

but im sure ya know that

its just for fun

so quit hatin' son

~courtney

i highly recommend james madison. the work is simple and if you stick to it you can graduate quickly. the work is simple and the teachers are very interactive. the flow of the school work is all on your time so it's not really a dead line. go on their website and look at pricing and enrollment plans. i know when i signed up i got a discount. you pay a certain amount of money every month. it's kind of expensive but i did it in 6 days tops with just my senior year left : )