Elisas character in chrysanthemums expresses a universal longing to reach beyond our circumstances to be more and do more. Find a character in another story from this unit that shares Elisas longing. For each character, explain how the author conveys thus universal longing and makes the reader empathize with the character. How are the two characters similar and different? With which character do you feel the strongest empathy and why? I just need a specific character to put me on track.

Have you ever thought you understood a person based on a story that you have heard about them? have you ever guessed about a person's personal life because of the clothes they wore? or, have you judged a person because of their friends? although classifying people in this way is typically discouraged, authors deliberately use your preconceived ideas to you form an opinion about the character or to at least have a better understanding. can you think of a time that you made a character call about someone based on external aspects? were you correct, or incorrect? has anyone ever made an incorrect assessment of you based on external aspects? write two paragraphs about it in your journal.