Shahd Ajaj

Mrs. Carroll
September 23-2018

~ Choose one epigraph--How does it compare to the development of Mirabella

in that stage?~

The epigraph that relates to Mirabella the most is stage 2. It explains how hard it is to adapt

to new culture and how stressful it could be. Many students feel isolated and generally

uncomfortable. Mirabella is feeling isolated because she is the only one who isn’t adapting or

even trying to. The rest of the girls are trying to adapt or have become like Jeanette and fully

adapted. It’s difficult to be so used to something and then try and forget it.

In epigraph 2 it states,“your students realize that they must work to adjust to the new culture”

which Mirabella has realized but decided not to do. (229), “This work may be stressful and

students may experience a strong sense of dislocation.” The whole pack was feeling isolated and

they were splitting up. Mirabella was the youngest and she was the only one who wasn’t

adapting to the new culture. It also states that they may spend a lot of time daydreaming which is

what Mirabella was doing while the others girls were practicing to walk on their feet, speaking

english, acting like proper girls.

The last sentence in the epigraph states ,“Many students feel isolated, irritated, bewildered,

depressed, or generally uncomfortable” if you look under the epigraph second to last sentence

you’ll see it says , “The WHOLE pack was irritated, bewildered, depressed. We were all

uncomfortable and between languages” which meant the pack was starting to drift apart. Some

girls could no longer understand the language the others were speaking, which means they
couldn’t communicate and that put them in a uncomfortable situation. It also says ,“they had

never wanted to run away so badly in our entire lives” (229) They wanted to leave so badly they

didn’t have anywhere to go. Some of the girls had become like Jeanette and have fully adapted

and even forgotten where she came from. Or they became like Mirabella where they refuse to

change. The rest of the girls are in between.

In conclusion stage 2 related more to Mirabella because it showed exactly how she was feeling

whether she showed it or not. She did feel isolated because she was not only the youngest but

also the one who didn’t want to follow directions and become a normal human girl. She felt

bewildered how the other girls didn’t try and refuse to change themselves. They all felt

uncomfortable learning all these new things and changing themselves completely. The pack felt

depressed they wanted to run away but didn’t have anyone/anywhere to go. Stage 3 states ,“some

students may feel that their own culture’s lifestyle and customs are far superior” but no where in

the text does it state that or have any background evidence. Stage 2 had evidence to back it up.