Back in 2007, an eight year old boy with the name of Peneal, was adopted from Ethiopia and was sent to live with his new family in the United States. Peneal was living in a orphanage waiting to be adopted since he lost both his parents at a young age. He had no idea his life would be changed when his new adoptive parents arrived. Since he was shy and unfamiliar with English, the family found it difficult to get to know him. However, over the years Peneal learned, and he is now extremely thankful for his new life in America (Keloland 2012). Likewise, in the short story by Nicholas Gage, Nicholas tells his life story starting at the young age of nine when he lost his mother and was sent to live with his father in America. Through the many challenges…show more content… When Nicholas first arrived in the United States, he was a short, nine year old boy that was intimidated by the others surrounding him. For example, he said in his short story, “I found myself surrounded by richer, smarter and better-dressed classmates, who looked askance at my strange clothes and heavy accent” (Gage 214). However, when he met his teacher, Miss Hurd, his life changed forever. She encouraged him to open up to others by writing a paper about his life in Greece. Since he was able to retell his story in Greece, it shows that he was an observant and very smart boy. Also, he was grateful for Miss Hurd because of everything she did for him. In the story, Nicholas shows how he would not be where he is today without the help of Miss Hurd. For example, he said, “But she was the one who directed my grief and pain into writing, and if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have become an investigative reporter and foreign correspondent, recorded the story of my mother’s life and death in Eleni and now my father’s story in A Place for Us, which is also a testament to the country that took us in” (Gage…show more content… Nicholas is a round and protagonist character because he is the main talk of the story and the audience knows many things about him. He shared a large number of stories that happened in his life, starting in Greece and finishing in America. He is also a dynamic character because he changed throughout the story. In the beginning of the story, he showed that he was timid, shy, and ignorant to the English language. However, by the end of the story he gained confidence in himself and had learned English well. He also wrote multiple award winning stories. Because Miss Hurd encouraged him to write about what happened to his family in Greece, he became motivated after the amount of awards he won from it, so he continued to
