DIRECTIONS: Read critically the story below. Then, write 3-5 paragraphs critique essay about it. You may write your own literary criticism using Marxist or Feminist Approach. Make sure to check the scoring rubric provided below for you to be guided on what is expected of you. Place your critique on a clean sheet of paper. (Short Bond Paper) SHE'S ONLY MY SISTER by Kris Hendrick My sister and I never seemed to get along. Though we shared a room, our conversations often turned to arguments or cold silence. We never seemed to agree on anything --from the way we dressed to the people we picked as friends. But what could we do? After all, we had to share many things in our small house. Neither of us thought that we were wrong---we each blamed our inability to get along on the other and put each other down instead of trying to find the cause of the problem. We grew up and I eventually left for college. At college I found that I didn't know how to get along with people. I found myself getting into arguments often and being hurt easily. I began to see that the problem was that I hadn't developed a strong relationship with the members of the family, and so I didn't have a lot of experience in getting along with others.I realized that I had never gotten along well with my sister because I never really knew her. I thought of the times I'd borrowed something from my sister without asking her, or had broken something without even admitting that I had broken it. I thought of the times that I refused to share my things with her, and of the things I had said behind her back to make myself look better. Watching different kinds of people at college, I grew to accept each one with his or her strengths and weaknesses and to appreciate each person's uniqueness. I grew to see that by accepting people as they were, they were able to accept me. And true friendships began to develop. That was something that my sister and I had never developed---a true friendship. Because it takes brotherly love to develop a friendship, and that love overlooks mistakes. I began to wonder: "Who is my sister? What is she like? What did she think of me all those years?" I didn't have long to wonder. After I graduated from college, she came to live with me. At first we were wary, not sure what each other was like and with the memory of our childhood in our minds. But this time we wanted to share and give to one another. And we also found out that our tastes were not that different after all. Our difficulty had been in our unwillingness to work with one another. I couldn't help but think that if I had only tried harder to give to and understand my sister, and if I had really cared about what she was thinking, we would have grown up as good friends. How about you? Do you get along with your brothers and sisters? Do you share your ideas and interests with them? Do you help them when they need it? If not, it's not too late to develop a good friendship. If you have a good friendship with your brothers and sisters, work to strengthen it. Let each do what we can to strengthen the family relationships. Then no matter what, we'll have someone to turn to who cares about us, because we'll be part of a strong family.
