Theme+Paragraphs

Here are the sample theme paragraphs we wrote in class on September 10. Nice work!
As the narrator of “Big Joe’s Funeral” says, “Life is hard and you have to take it seriously.” At the end of the story, Cassie’s husband gets arrested for beating her. This shows how tough life can be. Earlier in the story, we learn that an ambulance killed Sadie’s husband. This shows that you never know what can happen, since an ambulance is supposed to be a life-saving vehicle, but instead it killed someone. Big Joe used some of the money from his cancelled life insurance to throw a party, but he also used some of it to help Cassie. This shows that you can have fun in life and take it seriously. Just as there is balance in the story between fun and seriousness, everyone in life has good days and bad days.

Myers story shows that life is hard and you have to take it seriously. Big Joe took death lightly, but this upset Sadie and Peaches. Peaches’ father had died, so she was sensitive. Big Joe didn’t realize how playing with death might affect others; he didn’t realize how seriously you have to take it. In the story, Cassie’s husband abuses her. This shows how tough life can be. Just as in this story, you have to take life seriously because something bad could happen at any time.

Myers’s story shows that life is hard and you have to take it seriously. In the story, Cassie’s husband abuses her. This shows the pain of life. The police come to 145th Street to look for crack in a casket and intimidate an entire funeral party, but never find any narcotics. This shows that you can go through a lot in life and still accomplish nothing. The cops’ actions are also an example of poor treatment of innocent citizens. At the end of the story, the cops arrive again—to arrest Cassie’s husband. In contrast to the bogus crack call, this shows that cops need to take every call seriously. Similarly, I know that I must take school seriously even though it is hard.

In Myers’s story, I think that the theme is that the world is a hard place to live, but there are still funny moments in life to enjoy. One example of this is that right after Big Joe’s funeral, which is funny, Cassie gets beaten by her husband. This shows that life is hard. Another example is that Sadie’s husband got run over by an ambulance. That’s sad when you think about it, but it’s also funny because it’s ironic. When Big Joe was eating ribs, his friend pointed out that they could kill him by raising his cholesterol. He was enjoying himself at his “funeral” after party, while at the same time speeding up his real funeral. This shows how hard and funny life can be. When the police show up, they threaten everyone with guns. This could have resulted in an actual funeral after the mock one. This is another example of irony in the story. This story shows that we have to take the good with the bad. I know that life is not a game but it full of struggle and surprises.

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