Bobby Berrensand

Elliott Heater-Brown

23-2-12

Fig 1

STITCHES – A Memoirby David Small

Why should we maintain a positive attitude in life?

David Small

• Born on February 12, 1945 in Detroit, Michigan.• Began drawing when he was two years old. • David Small received a master’s degree in fine arts at Yale University. • Stitches is a memoir of Small’s life. • Hs book stitches was listed in Publishers Weekly as one of the top 10 books of

2009. • He is married to author Sarah Stewart, and they have written many books

together.

Small grew up in the 1950’s, a time when America was recovering fromWorld War II, and was also facing the beginning of the Cold War. The music

industry was quickly growing, with artists such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Judy Garland. The mid 50’s sprouted the emergence of Rock n’ Roll with

artists such as Elvis Presley. Some prominent sports figures included Jackie Robinson, Péle, and Jim Brown.

The 1950’s

This is a website that talks about David Small and his book Stitches. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Small

David Small: A scrawny, neglected and ill child.

David is the main character.Throughout the novel he is mistreatedby his family, and on top of that isdiagnosed with cancer. But even withall this negativity surrounding his lifehe perseveres and becomes successful.

Grandma: An old, grumpy, negative, dream-crushing,lady; who also happens to be short.

We chose grandma because she is on of the main symbols of negativityin the book. The grandma constantly makes David feel bad abouthimself, and has the mindset that David will never be good enough. In her own life, rather than facing her problems she tries to get rid of themznd burns her house down.

AllusionIn Stitches the literary device of Allusion, is used when David has a

phyciatrist, whom he imagines as the Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.

As a child he enjoyed Alice in Wonderland, so when the psychiatrist

turns out to be a positive role model, he connects the psychiatrist with

the positive memories he has from Alice in Wonderland.

MetaphorMetaphor

Metaphor Metaphor

In Stitches, David Small uses his dreams to metaphorically show how he feels about life. For example, in one of his dreams there is a bat looking for his mom, but his mom is not there. This indicates how David feels about his own mother.

Hint: the nextSlide mayContain foreshadowing

Foreshadowing

In Stitches foreshadowing is used when David is looking through his fathers medical books, and sees pictures of cancerous tumors. This is foreshadowing Because later in the book, Davidgets cancer.

Bildungsroman-when the main plot of a story consistsof the main character undergoingPhysical, emotional, and mental growth.

Stitches is the story of how David Small grew up, And mentally, emotionally, and physically found Himself.

Detroit, Michigan

• Stitches is based in Detroit. • They have several professional sports teams,

including the Tigers (baseball), Red Wings (hockey), Lions (football), and Pistons (basketball).

• Had the nation’s first urban freeway called the Davison.

• Was the first city in the Nation to assign individual phone numbers.

Accolades for Stitches• Reviewed by the New York Times. • Reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. • Listed in the top 10 books of 2009 by

Publishers weekly and Amazon.com. • #1 New York Times bestseller. • Finalist for the 2009 national book award for

young people’s literature.

David Small, is his memoir “Stitches” (2009), suggests that having a positive attitude in life can be the difference between success and failure, and that a person’s attitude defines them. Small supports this suggestion by showing failures in his grandmother’s, mother’s, and father’s lives where negativity was present, but in his life he made the decision to be positive, and thus became successful. His purpose is to make his readers stay positive and follow their dreams in order to succeed in life. With Stitches he establishes an informal connection with his readers who may be struggling in their own lives.

Précis

THE END.

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