Course: English Composition 115
Assignment 1.2: Summary and Personal Response
The Brief McGraw-Hill Guide: Writing for College, Writing for Life (2nd Ed.)
Memoir: “Farm Girl” By Jessica Hemauer

Title of Summary: Sore Thumb

Sore Thumb
Jessica Hemauer’s memoir, “Farm Girl,” is a sensor filled passage that shows the reader how a well-developed work ethic leads to standing out like a “sore thumb.” Young people that work on a farm learn a well-developed work ethic through teamwork, leadership, sacrifice, responsibility, time management, and following an agenda. Jessica Hemauer did not want the life of a farm girl because she wanted to be normal. She finally realized that she had become better than normal due to a well-developed work ethic. The audience for this essay was probably for seventh to ninth graders for the purpose to help motivate them into developing a good work ethic by planning and working hard. The tone of this essay is a rollercoaster of emotions. It goes from sad, to angry, and to happy. The genre of this essay is a memoir that tugs at the reader’s emotions due to the numerous sensor details of her days. Teamwork is defined as individuals working as a team to complete a task. The farm came first to the family, so it took every individual family member to work as one to keep the farm functioning and growing. In paragraph five, Jessica says, “While Melissa and my father milk the one hundred cows, Nick and Angie feed them, and I feed the newborn calves…We all work together—that’s critical” (Hemauer, pg. 84). At this point, she realized that teamwork is critical and that sacrificing normalness was a decision that she had to make. Sacrifice means giving up something or one’s self, to achieve a greater purpose. In paragraph one, Jessica says to herself, “A typical ten-year-old child does not have to wake up at five in the morning to do chores” (Hemauer, pg. 83)! Most children her age didn’t have to roll out of bed until an hour before school started. Jessica sacrificed time, so that she could help out her family on the farm. She had to work quickly to accomplish all her chores before school and after school, but it still didn’t leave her much time, if any, to have a social life with her classmates. Jessica begged to play on the basketball team, and was eventually granted to play basketball after school, as long as she still accomplished her after school chores. Leadership is someone that shows the capability to lead others in a task. Jessica learns her leadership skills from following Nick’s examples of watching over his siblings and leading them to and from the barn. She shows her leadership skills when she is put in charge of feeding the newborn calves. This sample is also her first of many cases of how she showed responsibility for something. Responsibility means holding one’s self accountable. Jessica held herself accountable for all the duties that she took on at school and after school. She could have gone home after school, but instead she became president of her class and student council. She took on a waitressing job at a hotel, where she shows up on time, never plays the sick card, and never grumbles about accomplishing a task. An agenda is a routine or plan of action. At a young age, Jessica’s parents grinded into her head a routine of morning chores, school work, and after school chores. It didn’t matter about the weather or school activities. The entire routine had to be followed, even if something was added or subtracted to the routine. Following plans at such a young age allowed her to be able to manage her time with less stress.
Her boss wanted to know where he could find more hard working people like Jessica and she replied, “Try hiring some farm girls. I hear they turn out pretty good” (Hemauer, pg. 87). This quote at the end of the memoir suggests that the boss wants more people that stand out like a “sore thumb.” Standing out like a sore thumb in this memoir is the result of a well-developed work ethic. Jessica did not feel like she fit in with any of her peers before she started doing school activities. Jessica realized in her later school years that she had become more mature than her peers. Her peers were now looking up to her and trying to follow in her footsteps. The emotional response to Jessica Hemauer’s memoir is that it is very important for young people to devise a well-developed work ethic, so that when they get older, the work ethics become more natural to their way of life.

References:
Hemauer, Jessica. “Farm Girl” (The Brief McGraw-Hill Guide: Writing for College, Writing for Life (2nd Ed.), pgs. 83-87)