One might think, "How much power does an individual have over who they become?" Well in the story, "Number One", Nelson, the main character, Is very effected by her fathers influence on her life. Nelsons father expected the most out of her. However in doing so, he would give her a negative gesture, the middle finger, and in unison tell her to become "Number One". Nelson didn't quite understand what her father meant by this, was it a positive statement

In the fourth, and final story, "Winter Dreams", the influence could go either way, positive or negative. The main character in this story meets his "dream girl" caddying on a golf course. The moment he saw her it was like he had an epiphany. He saw them both together, married, set up for life. However, one day on the golf course when they were talking, this woman that he looked up to so much called him "Boy". When he though about this, the reason for this negative word was because she was definitely set up in the upper class, but he was not. It would probably be giving him more credit than he deserves to say that he was in the middle class. But he doesn't give up. This is his influence for the rest of his life. He will not settle for anything else in life. This means that he ignored every other girl that could have been "the right one".

Some common words found in the essay are:
Winter Dreams, Gilmore Gary's, Gayle Pemberton, , main character, main character story, Gary Gilmore, character story, people shaped attitudes, rest life, gary gilmore, golf course, winter dreams, didn't understand, negative influence, influence main, shaped attitudes,
Approximate Word count = 781
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)