Analysis on Cybill and Calvin

Both of these stories, Cybill Shepherd and Calvin Stanley both stood out to me as two of the most visionary stories I have read. Both of the stories show the human behind the surface, and were written in such an eloquent fashion to convey them.

Cybill Shepherd's story was fashioned in a style indicating the beauty of her personality and the things she did throughout her life that made her who she was. I liked seeing the contrast of who she was growing up, which was a very active teenager that did anything but acting, to famous model/movie star, to a Memphis-loving, very hospitable mom. The time when the writer wrote, "Despite the bikini, there's more to Cybill Shepherd than meets the eyes," he means the glamorous lady you see in front of you is just a side of Cybill, and there's more qualities to her that a lot of people don't see. The way the transitioning of her life showed us the different sides of Cybill, and it was very intriguing to me. I especially liked how the writer would keep taking us back to the image of Cybill sun-basking at her apartment, and continue to tell us her past.

The very last image of the sunset was I thought a perfect way to end this story. The story focused on the beauty of Cybill, and as a last parting moment, we see a glimpse of Cybill's true beauty when she watches the sun leaving Memphis.

Calvin Stanley's story was similarly fashioned to Cybill's story because here we also see a surface of a boy who is blind, but also we see the child that shines through the obstacle. It was a highly inspirational story to me, and I especially loved the fact that he can do anything even though he's blind. The part when Calvin rides his bike down an alley and picks up on the smells that lead him back to his house was a favorite of mine, because it shows he is fearless and wants to learn so much. Other illustrations like Calvin learning how to master braille, and spell the word "eleven" out to the teacher were also very powerful anecdotes to put into the story that I enjoyed. The language, similies, metaphors that the writer used all fit well into the story to show how Calvin shines as a blind-child.

The favorite quote I had from the story that really drew out the underlying focus of the story was when the mom said, "You're seeing, Calvin. You're just using your hands instead of your eyes. But you're seeing. And, remember, there is nothing you can't do." I felt this quote alone made the story what it is - the fact that Calvin can "see," but just in a different way than how the rest of us can see. I felt the format and style that this story was written was almost as if Calvin's life was told through a magnifying glass - making every experience he had ten times more powerful than a regular person's story. I loved that the writer used the angle of showing Calvin's light through the darkness.