Gifts may convey a wide range of symbolic messages such as "the status of a relationship, a promise of future interaction, or a statement of love, concern or domination" (Poe, 1977). Gifts may represent symbols of a relationship: "A gift is a ritual offering that is a sign of involvement in and connectedness to another" (Cheal 1987, p. 152). Specific gifts may further delineate the nature of the relationship. For example, money may communicate a variety of negative messages, such as thoughtlessness (Webley et al. 1983) and unequal status (Poe 1977; Caplow 1982), while a practical gift given to a business associate communicates that the relationship is not intended to be close or intimate. Gifts may also symbolize identities of the giver or
Love isn’t just giving or receiving material objects. Love is more about proving to the person, you don't have to give anyone anything to prove your love. Your honesty and heart should be enough. “I Am Offering You This Poem” by Jimmy Santiago Baca proves that there's a better way to show your love then being materialistic. In this poem Baca is writing to a loved one. He tells them that he doesn't have anything to give them except his love and this poem. He is giving this poem to them for when he's not there, they will always be reminded that he loves them. Just because someone doesn’t have a lot to give, doesn't mean they don't love you.
gesture, such as being given a key to a man’s house. The woman wants to believe that the key was given as a symbol of
Gifting technically does not mean buying an object and giving it to another person. The term “gifting” used at “Burning Man” refers to sharing an experience, one
However, as may be expected from our modern society, the custom of giving gifts quickly turned into the practice of exchanging them. If one gives gifts to loved ones at Christmas, the reasoning goes, then those who do not receive gifts from a person are obviously not loved by him/her. So each individual now is required to give a gift to all of his/her friends, or risk communicating to them that s/he no longer loves them -- or perhaps never did! Also, there arises another problem when someone gets a gift from a person to whom they did not give one. The logic here is that the one who gave the gift obviously has a greater love for or places a greater value on the friendship than the one who did not. A decidedly awkward situation arises from this, one can imagine.
The short story The Gift has many layers with in itself on different topics. The topics of discrimination, feminism, friendship, tradition, and power all can be seen in this story. Many literary devices can be seen in the story also. Such as: theme, metaphor, tone and symbol. This story unlike most as that I couldn't predict what was going to happen that made the girls leave the school. Just as it says in the beginning paragraph "No one expected Merceditas Cáceres, on the day Carlotta Rodriguez was expelled from the Sacred Heart, to hang her silk sash from the doorknob, drop her medal of the Congregation of the Angels in the alms box, and walk out through the schools' portico arm in arm with her friend, head held high and without deigning once to look back, with that gesture of paramount disdain so commonplace in those of her social class." (Ferré) Just like no one in the story would have expected the main characters to do this, during the story I could not figure out why they would have done it.
Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad. (pg. 148)
...themselves to think of that statement alone, they would remember that accepting or giving said gift, would only benefit themselves and not the better good of the student, so it should not be done.
We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others” (97). In the book The Giver by Lois Lowry, no one has seen a rainbow after a storm, no one knew what colors were; what choosing was; what it meant to be an individual. Everyone lived in complete Sameness, and never learned what it meant to be an individual. By eliminating as much self expression as possible in Sameness and society, Jonas's community has rejected the individuality of a society where people are free to move society forward. In The Giver individuality is represented by colors, memories, and pale eyes.
worse. Since these people make very little money, their gifts come more from the heart
We live in a culture where people are expected to give to others gifts of gratitude and expressions of love. Sometimes these gifts are accepted for what they are worth and other times they are not. We use that which others give us based on several factors. Among them are whether we perceive the gift as valuable, whether we can practically use the gift, or whether the gift is given earnestly and for the right reasons. Because of this there is not one explanation why certain attitudes about gifts exist. We should, however, understand that it is not for us to realize why a gift is given, but rather that someone thinks enough of us to give a gift in the first place. It is certain that if gifts are not accepted and used in a prudent and expeditious manner, then the gifts that are received will deteriorate or whither completely away.
America is a land filled with strong nationalism; however, there was once a time where one living in America could not say that he was an American. The colonists in the New World did have nationalism, but it was for a land across the sea. In Robert Frost’s poem “The Gift Outright”, there is set forth a stanza concerning the history of America and how this nation came to be. Through his use of personification and other stylistic choices, Frost efficiently communicates and explores the forming of a nation and, thus, the creation of nationalism.
“We believe in personal choice, rather than society dictating how we must live our lives.”- Mike Peters. In the book The Giver by Lois Lowry, the citizens in the community live without choice, meaning they have no control over their own lives. Because of that they do not suffer the consequences for any choice but they do not get to experience freedom. Lois Lowry is saying, the importance of personal choice can change a person's emotions, helps people’s abilities to be independent and affects the freedom which allows a person to pursue what they want in life and to make their own decisions for their future. A person’s emotions can change because they do not know what to feel since all their decisions are made for them, being able to choose
They are egoistic and fake, and they usually cannot maintain a strong relationship because they do not want to give after they take something. However, givers can build relationships that are strong and real, and they do not usually expect returns from a relationship when they give. They are able to keep a good relationship with others in a long run and
that person appreciated the gift and it would be almost like a gift to you.
Sherman, Amy L. “Expectant Giving.” The Christian Century 116.6 (1999): 206. Academic OneFile. Web. 1 Nov. 2013.