"A Hope in the Unseen" by Ron Suskind

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that "A Hope in the Unseen" by Ron Suskind is the story of Cedric Jennings, a student at an inner-city factory Ballou Senior High in Washington, D.C., and his ambitious move from Ballou to the Ivy League. The author makes it quite clear that academic success among inner city kids is so rare that, when it happens, the others resent it, which makes teens like Cedric true outsiders, as if somehow he is betraying the rest of his peers. This paper states that what needs to be answered is whether Cedric is truly exceptional, whether his story is one in a million or whether, given the chance, there are many more like him, anxious to prove themselves not by the color of their skin but by their persistence and determination to pull themselves up and make a life for themselves.

From the Paper:

"One aspect of Cedric's fear is made quite clear: he has never been around white kids a lot. When he tells his teacher, Mr. Taylor, that he is going to Brown, Taylor is less than enthusiastic. "I'm not sure I would have selected an Ivy League school...You're going to be up there with a lot of very smart white kids, and if you're not sure of who you are, you could get eaten up alive....It's not just at the Ivies. It can happen at any of the good colleges where a young black man who hasn't spent a lot of time with whites, suddenly finds himself among almost all whites. You can feel lost." One wonders whether his teacher is really preparing him for potential problems, or whether (as a Holy Cross graduate and not an Ivy Leaguer) he is slightly resentful of a possibility that he was not permitted to exercise."

More papers on "A Hope in the Unseen" by Ron Suskind:

• Analytical Essay # 48336 : "A Hope In The Unseen"
• Analytical Essay # 9700 : "A Raisin in the Sun" by Larraine Hansberry"
• Comparison Essay # 8869 : "Social Influence in "Lysistrata," "Oedipus Rex" and "A Raisin In The Sun"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: