Suzanne Paulose
February 12, 2015
English 1 ­ Pd 5
Ms. Gulitti

Writing from Sources Essay What does it mean to be a brother/sister’s keeper? A good brother/sister’s keeper is one who takes on the responsibility to care for the safety of others. This thematic topic of being a brother/sister’s keeper has been well developed through many texts. Text #1, “First Responders” by Dennis Smith examines this idea through the discussion of how Pete was a brothers keeper when shared his knowledge about his first priority to save the people in the accident at the World Trade Center. Also, in Text
#2, the cover of
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult the evidence of a sister’s keeper was shown in the picture because one sister was supporting the other and was responsible for the other. Finally in Text #4,
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George is a brothers keeper to Lennie when he takes on the responsibility of taking care of him throughout the harsh times they have been through during The Great Depression.
Clearly, being a brother/sister’s keeper does not only mean to protect someone, but also to look out for them.
Many people in our society do selfless acts and sacrifice numerous things to help others in times of need. In examining Text #1, “First Responders” by Dennis Smith, one can clearly see a call for the reader to understand the importance of caring for his fellow friend during times of need. Pete, a deputy fire chief, from the excerpt shows how he was very brave and how he immediately thought on instinct to help the people who were in danger on September 11, 2001 when the World Trade Center collapsed. As a

firefighter, he took on the job to help others in need and protect them from harm’s way.
He was very loyal and dedicated to his job, working fourteen to sixteen hours a day, making him a brother’s keeper. Another example of Petes bravery was when he “dug himself loose and quickly found another firefighter near him, this one mortally wounded….Pete and a few others carried Father Mychal out of the building”(Text #1).
This shows how Pete and his friends were brother’s keepers because they saw that another firefighter was wounded, and they rushed to save him. The firefighters took their time to carry his body out of the building to show respect, It turned out that he knew
Father Mychal, but he would have still urgently helped anyone get out even if they were complete strangers to him. This passage shows how people in our everyday lives can play a prominent role are a brother’s keeper and also be dedicated to doing so as a living. While not most people are heroic like Pete from Text #1, others are either forced to or feel obligated to take on the responsibility of taking are of another being. In Text
#2, the cover of
My Sister’s Keeper
, there is a picture of one sister leaning on the other for support. The younger sister on the cover is the keeper because she is standing erect which makes her the stronger and more supportive sister. We can tell that the older sister is depending on the other because she is leaning on her and that makes her look like the weaker figure (Text #2). Similarly, a close analysis ofs Steinbeck’s novel, Text
#4 reveals a character that