Matthew Blaylock

English 114B
Project Text Essay
April 20, 2016
Project Text First Draft
There are always bad days in a persons life. Whether or not it is an uncharacteristic
intention or not, people will always admit to having the worst of days. In the book, Everyday, by
David Levithan, a being is able to enter a persons body for a day, always entering a new one
every single day. Identity is something that belongs to one person and one person only. The idea
of a being having an identity is something that isnt far out of the spectrum. The being, A, has
an identity that is truly unknown to everyone except Rhiannon. An identity is something that
allows a person to truly express who they are and is something that they themselves feel
comfortable in, regardless of stereotypes and social barriers. A takes over a variety of people
within the novel and goes out of the hosts lifestyle to go meet this girl. In order to obtain its own
identity, A goes out of the characteristics of other peoples identities to truly find out what love
really is.
In the beginning of the novel, Everyday, the protagonist is a character named A. The
first couple of paragraphs explain that A wakes up in a new body every single day, ranging from
male and female. On a certain day, Day 5994, A wakes up in the body of Justin. Going to school,
A sees Justins girlfriend, Rhiannon, and automatically falls in love with this girl. From then on,
A wakes up in a new body every single day with the sole intention of meeting with Rhiannon and
confessing its feelings to her and explain the situation that A has to deal with for the rest of its
life. A goes out of the way to see this girl which leads to some ultimately bad decisions. Taking

over a boy named Nathan and leaving him abandoned on the side of the road the next morning
led to As secret being revealed. No one truly believed Nathan, but A has been caught. To know
what love is and to fight for the feeling, A does whatever it takes to have Rhiannon, which
eventually leads to some complications. In the body of Michael, A shows up to Rhiannon and
Justins school to talk to Rhiannon which eventually leads to Justin seeing them and insinuating a
brawl that ended up with Michael having bruises and cuts all over his face and body. On day
6022, Michael is supposed to go to Hawaii for a wedding and instead gets into a brawl and badly
beaten and then gets in trouble for not going on the plane. Even though A will not have to deal
with the consequences that it caused, Michael will have to deal with the punishment for more
than just a day.

The picture above shows a man staring into a broken mirror. This can translate into A ruining a
persons life because of the intention of seeing Rhiannon. A doesnt know what the consequences
are going to be after the decision. A doesnt realize what is going on with the peoples lives after
the initial take-over so the thought of it will never truly cross its mind.
Throughout the book, Rhiannon starts to examine the body A is in. Asking questions to
truly determine if A is within this body. A has never truly had an identity until the introduction of
Rhiannon in its life. In the novel, They Say / I say, the authors state As we stress in this book, it

is the view of others and our desire to respond to these views that gives our writing its underlying
motivation and helps readers see why what we say matters, why others should care, and why we
need to say in the first place. (Graff/Birkenstein 185). This statement translates to the idea that
as a society, people need to teach their children, the next generation, about what to say and what
not to say and why these things are allowed to be said and or kept to themselves. It is important
for a person to grow into their own identity in the most positive aspect and never allow any
negativity affect them. Examining what people say is something that will allow them to grow,
mature, and ultimately develop into their own identity. This instance for Rhiannon and A is
whenever the two meet, Rhiannon will ask the body, presumably A, a set of questions previously
asked to see if the answers will be the same.

The picture above shows one distinct yellow figure in a sea of white figures. This can translate
to A in the sea of people and the questions Rhiannon asks to confirm it is A can be the glowing
yellow aurora. A explains to Rhiannon that it has only experienced one love before her and it was
a boy. A goes on to explain that it falls in love with a person for who they are and not necessarily
their race, gender, etc. A loves a person for who they are with Rhiannon be the new feeling that A
has never truly felt before.
As identity isnt just about whether or not it has a certain religion, a certain race, or a
certain specification when it comes to relationships. The main goal in discovering As true

identity is simply discovering who A truly is. Part of an identity is the gender specification of a
person. Since A has only ever felt what love truly is twice, once with a boy and now with
Rhiannon, one can simply see that A can categorize himself as someone who isnt straight or gay.
A is simply a being who loves someone for who they are, not because of their gender. In the
article, Two and a Half Experiences by Gregory Reiser, Reiser talks about a television show
that unfairly labels the LGBTQ community into something that it isnt.

This picture above is showing two hands forming a heart. This translates into love between two
people. There is no clear distinction between the two hands like there is no clear distinction in
love. In actuality, the article isnt showing enough evidence outside of the television show to
truly agree with the thesis. A has an ability to choose whoever it wants to fall in love with and it
doesnt have to be a he or even a she, just someone A finds perfect in its own eyes.
A is a special being in the book, Everyday, and it is something that cant be truly
explained. A has its own identity that it discovers throughout the book. Rhiannon sees A as a
person, as a being, who takes over a body every single day. A wishes it could be with Rhiannon
forever but the ultimate decision for love is to simply walk away.

Works Cited

Levithan, David. Everyday. New York: Ember, 2012. Print.

Reiser, Gregory. "Two and a Half Experiences." Wings. 22nd ed. Plymouth: Hayden-McNeil,
2016. 66-69. Print.
Birkenstein, Cathy. "On Closer Examination." They Say / I Say. By Gerald Graff. New York: W.
W. Norton, 2014. 184-201. Print.

Multimodal Sources:
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