Odalis Diaz English 3 honors Ms. L 04/24/18 America and I In the short story “America and I” by Anzia Yezierska, the author talks about a girl who came to America looking for the “American dream” and also trying to escape from Russia, which she calls prison. This nameless girl feels “beaten out of [her heart],” suffocated in Russia, like she couldn’t get out of her impoverished lifestyle there. She tried to adjust to living in America because she’s from a different culture and environment and she asks many questions to help herself out but then she realizes that she is not an American and never will be. She ends up working with a Russian family as a servant. Then, later on she worked in a sweatshop and got fired. She had low thoughts about …show more content…
She was poor and very hungry. She got help from other girls who were suffering just like her. She just wanted to better her life because it was something her ancestors couldn’t do. She ended up learning that it is indeed hard to be an American. The Americans treated her like garbage and the nameless girl found out that “America” still needed improvements. In order for America to be the promised land, the nameless girl had to give a small portion of her own. The nameless girl felt sad for what was going to happen tomorrow because America would be too wise, too open hearted, too friendly handed, to let the least comer to come and make them feel unwanted. Yezierska uses darkness to describe all the feelings the main character has of being lost and the hardship she endured when she was in Russia. She also uses
Maggie's American Dream is Margaret Comer's inspiring biography written by her son James P. Comer. It also doubles as the autobiography of James P. Comer himself. It a great story of a person overcoming obstacles to reach their goals and dreams.
Because of her association with the young man, the police were planning to arrest her, but her father sold all of his worldly possessions, including his house in the city land his father had given him, and gave the money to the police in exchange for his daughter’s freedom. After fleeing from the city to the country, the girl writes a letter to her lover relating that “you must love him for this, manman says, you must. it is something you can never forget, the sacrifice he has made.” P.22. Sadly, her lover dies in route to America and she remains in Haiti bound to the sacrifice her family made to save her life. There is no freedom from oppression and suffering for the young man, no freedom from suffering and guilt for the young woman, and presumably, no freedom from poverty for her family in the years to
Anne-Marie Slaughter is the first woman director of planning policy at the State Department and the president and CEO of the New America Foundation. She has taught at two of the most prestige schools in the country Princeton and Harvard Law. She is also the author and editor of several books, but the most recent one is called “The Idea That Is America: Keeping Faith with Our Values in a Dangerous World which was published in the year 2007. Slaughters essay is about trying to balance home life and work life, and it first appeared in the Atlantic in July/August 2012 issue and was also on the Huffington Post. This essay argues that women in high power jobs and government positions can have both a work life and also keep their home life. She started her essay with a little information on background about her job.
While reading through the pages of “Separate Pasts: Growing up in the Segregated South” the author gives many details of his life growing up in the village of Wade. There are several things noticed during the course of this book, one can almost hear McLaurin tell the stories of his past and reading the words I could tell he was at times curious. But there were also times of guilt for the way he was brought up to treat the “blacks” of wade. McLaurin also had respect and sometimes it seemed he was envious of some of the black people he came in contact with. There were also times of depression within his own family. We will revisit some of his stories and reflect on some of the details of his life growing up.
One of the main themes throughout the book is the title of the book “Night”. There are references from Eliezer about night during the book, which are full of symbolism. The word “night” is used repeatedly, and Eliezer recounts every dusk, night and dawn through the entire book. For instance, Night could be a metaphor for the Holocaust—submerge the family and thousands of Jewish families in the darkness and misery of the concentration camps.
During the process of reading this compilation of works, Portrait of America, many different point of views were aired. The opinion or attitude on the subject was too tainted. The authors were very biased to their perception of the "story". This book could have been much more beneficial if the facts would have stayed to the straight and narrow. Only the detrimental facts needed to be applied to these chapters. For a history class, as broad as this, this book opened too many doors that could not be explained in as much detail as would be liked. Many of the authors enjoyed mentioning the most scandalous moments of the people's lives then dropped the fact without much support or follow through as to what happened to cause or end these events. Brief summaries only tease the mind, and with the course load of most students, there is hardly extra time to investigate the matter further in detail. For a class such as History 152, biographies and/or documentary style books are more worth the while of the student. For instance make a list of a selection of novels that could be read for the class, so that every student can then explore in depth what that student thinks is interesting. Although the book was teasing in nature the chapters did flow well and were easy to read. The procession of the chapters had wonderful transition as to not loose the student. While proceeding through this book there were several different reoccurring topics that appeared. This paper will discuss these two reoccurring topics: the civil rights movement and former presidents.
When Elie loses faith, darkness becomes an increasingly dominant piece of imagery in Night. Darkness reflects Elie’s sullen mood and dreary outlook on life. Nighttime entails fear and death, two things that Elie has become greatly accustomed to in Auschwitz.
The use of light and dark motifs by Mulisch explains many reactions of Anton when encountered with problems of his past. Perception of darkness Anton Steinwijk, the main character, experiences such assault by soldiers during the Occupation and his family being shot by them. His desire to leave what has happened to him in the past has been influenced thoroughly by some of the people he encounters as well as the trauma. Light and darkness symbolizes Anton's sense perception as well as moral issues conveyed by people he met, which influences him observing the war and his past years of life, and the desire to leave the past behind and move on.
During 1776, the United States was at war to gain its own independence from the hands of the tyrant King George III and his kingdom. As the fightt continued, the spirits of the U.S. soldiers began to die out as the nightmares of winter crawled across the land. Thomas Paine, a journalist, hoped to encourage the soldiers back into the fight through one of his sixteen pamphlets, “The American Crisis (No.1)”. In order to rebuild the hopes of the downhearted soldiers, Thomas Paine establishes himself as a reliable figure, enrages them with the crimes of the British crown, and, most importantly evokes a sense of culpability.
Darkness is one of the main themes in this scene. She said, and brought in cloudy night. immediately. I will be able to do so. Spread thy curtains, love performing night', this.
The tone of the short story “America and I” changed dramatically over the course of the narrative. The author, Anzia Yezierska, started the story with a hopeful and anxious tone. She was so enthusiastic about arriving in America and finding her dream. Yezierska felt her “heart and soul pregnant with the unlived lives of generations clamouring for expression.” Her dream was to be free from the monotonous work for living that she experienced back in her homeland. As a first step, she started to work for an “Americanized” family. She was well welcomed by the family she was working for. They provided the shelter Yezierska need. She has her own bed and provided her with three meals a day, but after a month of working, she didn’t receive the wage she was so
América’s view of the US changes drastically as the story progress. In the beginning of the story she is full of enthusiasm about coming to America with her husband Candido; due to the fact he promised they would have a better life. As the story progresses reality hits and she realizes that the American Dream isn’t easy to achieve. América realizes this by how she finds herself settling in a canyon with no clean water, not enough money and then having to work a lot after Candido is in the accident and then proceeding to steal from a garden just to have vegetables for her family.
Throughout his villanelle, “Saturday at the Border,” Hayden Carruth continuously mentions the “death-knell” (Carruth 3) to reveal his aged narrator’s anticipation of his upcoming death. The poem written in conversation with Carruth’s villanelle, “Monday at the River,” assures the narrator that despite his age, he still possesses the expertise to write a well structured poem. Additionally, the poem offers Carruth’s narrator a different attitude with which to approach his writing, as well as his death, to alleviate his feelings of distress and encourage him to write with confidence.
“American History” by Judith Ortiz Cofer is a short story set in 1963. Back then, prejudice and segregation amongst different races were still in full bloom. The protagonist, Elena is a fourteen year old girl of Puerto Rican descent who lives in Paterson, New Jersey along with her parents. Elena’s neighbor, Eugene, is a boy of European descent whom Elena likes. The story takes place the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. While the people in Elena’s community are shocked by President Kennedy’s death, Elena is dealing with her own tragedy: being shunned by Eugene’s family. Ortiz Cofer’s story examines the theme of tragedy, personal and collective, and revolves around the dreams of Elena which can be shattered in one shocking moment.
The city within this story plays a big role with setting the dark mood. “The twilight of the evening.” Although, this quote is simple, it contains a deeper meaning. Twilight represents the time between the evening and night. Speaking metaphorically, Chekhov implies that an end is approaching using this word. The “darkness” that is on its way refers to death. Death is first introduced to the readers from the beginning of the story. It sets the mood for a gloomy, depressing place due to the ending of Iona’s son, Kuzma Ionitch’s life. “Iona Potapov the sledge driver, is all white like a ghost.” The scenery of the white, refers to the snow, from that we can infer the item and place of the year; a winter in the city. The imagery of a ghost relates to how Iona is spiritually abandoned because of his loss. He lost a part of who he was, in part with losing his own child. This being unusual for a parent to experience which is also much more difficult for Iona to face. “He sits on the box without stirring, bent as double as the living body can be bent.” Iona is molded into fetal position, being in this position makes an individual appear “small”. Therefore, it is interpreted that he wants to disappear from his reality. He’s out of the strength to hold his own body up. The weakness and despair that is bottled up within him is growing rapidly and breaking him down