Students in Mrs. Katie McIlvanie’s seventh-grade ELA class recently wrote paragraphs in response to the question “What can cause a sudden change in someone’s life?” Prior to writing their responses, they studied three texts sharing the common theme of transformation or change: an informative article titled “At the Crossroads,” Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken,” and Israel Horovitz’s dramatic version of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.” Students were required to use any one or all three of these texts to provide text evidence in support of their response to the prompt. 

By Chyler Blackburn

Parents: Camae and Justin Blackburn

There are many changes that can alter someone’s life. One significant change is choosing kindness. To begin with, in the story “A Christmas Carol,” Scrooge chooses to be kind and saves Tiny Tim’s life by raising his father’s salary. “Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father.” This proves that the act of kindness can change someone’s life in an instant. Furthermore, in the article “At the Crossroads,” Hobo Nick travels 2,500 miles across North America, only surviving by receiving food, water and money from strangers. “Paying it forward was one of Nick’s goals on his journey — giving more than he received. If he was offered money or a gift card he didn’t need, he gave it to people who did.” 

By choosing the kindness of paying it forward, many strangers gladly helped him out. According to “A Christmas Carol,” “An act of kindness is like the first green grape of summer: one leads to another and another and another. It would take a queer man indeed not to follow an act of kindness with an act of kindness.” Lastly, in the poem “The Road Not Taken,” the narrator chooses to take the less traveled path instead of the worn path. One can infer this relates to choosing kindness because if you are being bullied it is hard not to be mean in return. However, the author of this passage chose the path not many people take after being bullied — she chose to be kind, “and that has made all the difference.” This states that choosing kindness can make a difference in someone’s life. In conclusion, all three texts prove that choosing kindness can significantly change someone’s life: by raising salaries to save a life, paying it forward to help people in need, and choosing to be kind even in difficult situations.

By Ava Bauman

Parents: Amy Hanson and Barry Bauman

Something that can cause a sudden change in someone’s life is how they are shown kindness. First of all, in the article “At the Crossroads,” “Hobo Nick” was shown kindness. 

For example, “There was a time in Mississippi when cars actually pulled up on the side of the road to check on him and give him money.” This shows how people had given him kindness, and he remembered it so it had to have changed his life. Secondly, in “A Christmas Carol,” Bob Cratchit had been eight minutes late to work, but because Scrooge had been shown kindness from the three spirits, he wanted to pass it along. So he told him “I am about to raise your salary.” This is going to cause a sudden change in Bob’s life because it’s giving Bob’s family more money to help with Tiny Tim and his large family. Finally, also in “A Christmas Carol,” Scrooge was shown kindness by being invited in to his nephew’s Christmas party; even after he declined at first, he was still welcomed by his nephew. 

This is shown when Scrooge asks “. . . May I come in, Fred?” and Fred (the nephew) replies with “may you come in!?!?, with such pleasure for me you may, Uncle. What a treat.” Overall, kindness can cause a sudden change in someone’s life as is shown in “At the Crossroads” with stranger generosity and “A Christmas Carol” with a salary raise and a welcoming invitation.