Reading Response to "Admission" by Danzy Senna

I loved how this short story began. There is just something about the way the beginning hooks you and keeps you invested in the characters. And as we move along in the story, the author uses such great imagery - "He was sitting in front of his television eating a mango with a knife." (pg. 1339) and so on and so forth.

What's also really great about this piece is that the dialogue really gets things moving along. You get to see so much character development within just a short period of time. You know who these characters are and what they are about. 

I couldn't help but wonder why someone would think that a person's life would be determined by that preschool their child went to. I know that it is in fact a concern with most parents these day and the realness within the story, the struggle (inwardly and outwardly) between the main character and her husband doesn't feel contrived. It feels incredibly real.

The character of Penny is a really interesting one - as I do not remember her from the beginning and I think she is introduced as the story progresses - and I am not sure I quite understand her obsession with getting Cody to come to the school. I am not sure if it's as what Duncan said, that their family will be fulfilling some sort of "quota" (thought it wasn't actually mentioned, it seemed that it could be a possible scenario), seeing as they are of upper-middle class standing and not white. Penny's actions at the end of the story as very interesting and I applaud the way that Cassie handled it. 

One technique that the author used that I really liked was when she did a sort of retrospective of when she was a little girl and she was remembering how cruel some of her peers were to others just because they were different. For instance the story of Tasha - it was a very powerful technique and it's not something that always works in pieces. But this author was able to do it wonderfully.