Michael Melch -- A Border on Life
   
   I think you are right to say that the painful and dangerous experiences
   John Grady Cole has in All the Pretty Horses force him to grow up into
   a man wise beyond his years. The main question I have for you after reading 
   your essay is whether you think enduring physical or emotional pain and suffering, 
   or acting consistently in a "calculated and mindful manner"
   is also enough to make someone a hero, or even someone who "has heroic qualities."  
   (To be clear, I'm not saying there's just one right answer here!  I just
   want you to think about this some more.)
   
   Here's a dictionary definition of a hero: "a person who is admired or
   idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities."
   Note that part of this is the way other people see the hero (the admiration
   or idealization), and part of it is the qualities of the hero him- or herself
   (courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities).  
   
   I think I know what you meant by acting in a "calculated and mindful manner."
   But I'm not sure there's necessarily anything heroic about that.  Isn't he
   just really careful and knowledgable about some things?
      
   The reactions of the men who see the gunshot wound in John Grady's leg could be
   seen as respect for courage of a sort.  But it's pretty clear that John Grady 
   doesn't see himself as a hero from some of the things he says at the end of the 
   novel.  So I'm not entirely convinced by the way you seem to be coming around
   to saying that he is a sort of hero by the end of the paper.  
   
   Some specific comments:
   
   1)  The tenses are mixed in your first paragraph -- some presents and some
       pasts.  It would be OK to make all of your statements in the present.
       
   2)  p. 1: "trials and tribulations" is overused and trite -- find your own
       way to say things like this.
    
   3)  p. 1:  "From their first encounter with Jimmy Blevins to their escape from the 
       town after Blevins took back his horse to, I think most importantly, their time 
       spent in prison, John Grady was forced to accept the terms of his new reality and either
       overcome them by changing and growing as a person or fail and face almost certain death."
       This is an awfully complicated sentence.  Can you really "overcome terms of reality"?
       Also a small point: You really need another comma after "horse" in the second line.
       
   4)  p. 2:  The way John Grady talks to his horses certainly shows that he understands how
       a horse can be calmed down by a rider who asserts complete control over the situation.
       But is that approach always a good one to use with other people?  And does it show
       compassion for other people?  
       
   5)  p. 3:  Be careful -- I think you have started to "channel" Cormac McCarthy's writing
       style and tics:  
       
       "By the end of the story, slashed and shot John Grady returns home to Texas a different
       person than who came riding into Mexico several months earlier."  
       
       > "Slashed and shot" is OK, but you could really use another comma after the "shot."  
         Then, "a different person than who came riding" is not really correct grammatically -- 
         "a person different from the one who came riding" would be better.
         
       "Little did he know about either of the men, one more than the other, but still it is the unknown
       about them which haunts John Grady’s mind."
       
       >  This sounds a lot like one of McCarthy's more "poetic" moments.
       
       "Never could he of imagined the series of events which would unfold in Mexico and lead 
        about to the present moment John Grady is in."
        
       > McCarthy uses "of" many times where "have" would be strictly correct. He's trying to 
         reproduce the speech of his characters.  You need to use correct grammar(!)
         
       > "lead about to the present moment John Grady is in" is kind of redundant.  Why "lead about?"
         Why not just "lead?"  Then "the present moment John Grady is in" sounds McCarthy-esque again(!)
         
   Content: A-
   
   Mechanics: B+