A Hope in the Unseen: A Relationship to Study Skills

The titles of the chapters of Ron Suskind A Hope in the Unseen provide a brief description of what we are about to read, but provide “food for thought”, regarding the meaning of the reading. For example, the first chapter, “Something to Push Against”, provides a visual representation of the struggles a young man overcomes to succeed in life. In this chapter, we are introduced to Cedric Jennings, one of the very few “straight-A” students at Washington DC’s Ballou High School. Faced with the hardships of growing up in the inner-city, Cedric has a dream to move on to a life that many students in his position could only dream of. After years of living in the unsafe, high crime projects, Cedric feels it is time to move on to better things.

The “Something to Push Against” in the first chapter represents two things. The more obvious of the two is Cedric’s push against his chances of succeeding. Attending college, and starting a career is not expected of many students at Ballou, and those who are capable of doing so are looked down on by their peers. Cedric’s ability to push against these odds have created a difficult social life for him, however he realizes this is the only way to live a better life than his parents, and his peers around him. Although he tries to conceal his abilities from other students, he is proud of his academic accomplishments, and will use them to push forward to a better life.

The second of the two things for Cedric to push against is his own confidence. Having so many talents, the only thing that