Likes - Assignment of Critical Thinking from Golden West College PDF

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Assignment of Critical Thinking from Golden West College...

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Quoc Phong, Le Critical Thinking Prof. Abraham Tarango Likes In “Likes” a short story by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynam, we see a father trying to gain a window into his twelve year old daughter, Ivy’s, life in whatever way possible. The story begins with him scrolling through her Instagram posts, but as he scrolls he feels more and more confused. He sees a picture of a melting ice cream cone, a shop window with a pink neon sign that says “warm”, a partially opened rose, the dog curled up on Ivy’s bed, a closeup of an earlobe, or at least he thinks that’s what it is. He tries to think about all of the pictures he has seen and what they mean about Ivy. Each and every parent of a teenager has felt this way or will feel this way at some point. Who is this child? Why don’t I know more about their life and feelings? How can I play a bigger part in their life? So many questions and yet so many mysteries. Parents and children need each other, but are sometimes confused about what that relationship looks like as time moves on and children grow. The author included descriptions of the daughter's Instagram pictures because he wants to add realistic details, which are happening over time and according to the structure of the story. The author describes those details as if he wanted to lead the reader throughout the story from the beginning. On the other hand, he wants the

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evidence to be justification for his thoughts and wants to capture sympathy from the readers. The author has detailed description of all the captions of the pictures that his daughter posted on her Instagram. He didn't want to miss the slightest detail to understand the change in his daughter's emotions. He also watched her post so often that he could tell who often talked to her on Instagram or how many likes does a posted picture usually achieve. That depicts the deep affection of the father in the story for his 12-year-old daughter. Teenagers, like Ivy, don’t always see their parents as their first choice when they need someone to talk to. We see this with Ivy and her father. Ivy is quiet or distant on their car rides to physical therapy. Once at physical therapy, Ivy is very talkative and seems to enjoy the company of her physical therapist. This leaves Ivy’s father wondering why she isn’t this way with him. When Ivy’s father mentions her being talkative with her physical therapist, Ivy gets upset and tells him “You’re making me feel like I talk too much!”, Leaving him again, wondering. This is where we see characterization. We are learning that Ivy can be talkative and that she is concerned about being thought of as over-talkative. We also see characterization of the father. He is confused and desires to be a bigger part of Ivy’s life. The characterization we see and learn from about Ivy and her father fits with who parents and teenagers today truly are. Most parents long to talk to and be a part of their child’s life and most teenagers wish to keep their parents as far in the dark as possible. Teenagers also don’t take criticism

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from their parents very well, just like Ivy didn’t take her father’s comment about her being “…quite the conversationalist…” very well. Teenagers want to be sure they will not be judged when they do open up to their parents. We see this with Ivy and her father as well. One afternoon, Ivy and her father were driving in the car and he says to Ivy, “I’m not going to look at you. I’m going to say anything, I’m just going to keep my eyes on the road. I’m going to keep driving, and when you’re ready, you say whatever you want.” After some silence and Ivy considering what her father just said, she says: “Can I curse?” “You won’t make any noises, or have any expressions at all on your face?”. She had to test him. She had to see if he would really not judge her. These same situations happen with parents and teenagers every day. Teens don’t want to say things that their parents will comment on or judge. It is important that both parents and teens are able to speak to one another in a non-judgmental way. Keeping lines of communication open is very important to both parents and teenagers. Sometimes it takes something big happening for parents and teenagers to really grasp how much they need each other. In the end of the story, we read, “Right before the impact, he heard his daughter gasp. And, in the silence afterward, he felt her chest rising and falling rapidly against his outstretched arm.” We can take from that that they had been in an accident. We don’t learn anything else about that moment, except that at the end of the story, Ivy is excited to see her father come home from work and she

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splatters herself against the picture window like a bug on a windshield and he mirrors her on the outside of the window, making her laugh. In the story, you can feel the connection that is there between Ivy and her father. Through the fear of losing one another in their car accident they both realized how much they need each other and have bonded and connected. This happens more often than not with parents and teenagers. Teenagers want parents to be on the outside looking in until something happens and they realize that they need them just as much as their parents need their children. After these shreds of evidence are often passages that describe what happened later in the present interwoven in which the author's thoughts and recollections of his past. He tried to remember his past, searching through his feelings when he was in boyhood to consider the similarities in thinking of his daughter in the present. He wanted to be 12 years old, to feel back on the things that happened to him over and over again, to look back on those thoughts and actions that might have helped him to understand my daughter better. Readers can quickly come across paragraphs depicting the mood mixed with memories of the father in the story; Sometimes it's fun, and sometimes it's sad. That reminds the author of the psychological change of humans in adulthood. He then linked his memories with the realities happening to his daughter. The author was called Heathcliff by the parents of the author. He was called that after he had a sprain in a training session on the basketball court. The author then

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describes the discontinuous memories of the presence of a secret girl. All these memories originate when the author sees his daughter innocently beautiful at the age of 12 then he realized with pride that his daughter would have been one of those girls who intimidated him when he was that age. In the 22nd paragraph, the author describes the girl in innocence and beauty at an early age. The author then mentions the father in the last sentence of this paragraph as one observing the growth of his child. And then the father lit up an indescribable feeling of himself in the past while looking at his daughter. This paragraph describe the difference when it comes to finding common ground between father and daughter. The girl in the father's memory appears mysteriously, happily and beautifully. But then that appearance also disappeared as the way she looked because his mind was no longer accessible. Then there were names of his classmates that he might suddenly remember and immersed him in beautiful memories. Parents and teenagers have struggled, for centuries, to find a balance in their interactions and relationships. I don’t see that changing anytime soon. It’s just the nature of the time in their lives, but when the connection is made and the bond is built, many wonderful experiences and silly moments can be remembered for a lifetime.

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References Bynum, Sarah Shun-Lien. "Likes." Abcarian, Klotz and Cohen. Literature: The Human Experience. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2019. 118-129. Textbook....