Growing Up by Russell Baker, a story about a boy becoming a man in the United states starting in the 1920’s during the World Wars. This book takes us through what life is like growing up in that time period and what it takes for Baker to be successful starting at a young age. The book was interesting and actually made me put myself in Baker’s position throughout the book as he grows us and molds into a man. He faces adversity and gets pushed by his Mother to make something of himself because she doesn’t want him to end up like his Father. Multiple times in the book it talks about the qualities of a “good man”. People that Baker encounter in his life meet the expectations of a good man and others are far from it. A good man according to Growing …show more content…
Baker gets to know her life story and what is was like growing up in her family. She talks about her father and how he treated them wrong. Mimi’s father was a man who was abusive to her and her mother. He spent all of his money on booze and little on his family. Mimi’s mother would lock the door when her husband would get drunk and her first memories (page 297) of her father was him “smashing the big glass window out of the locked front door to reach the lock inside”. On holidays he would often be drunk and abusive. For example, her mother was building a toy garden under the Christmas tree and Mimi’s drunk father came in and “kicked it to ruins”. Mimi’s father is an example of a bad man because he was mean, abusive, and an alcoholic. He would leave Mimi to fend for herself and she would move around from house to house and then weeks or months later he would show back up wanting to get the family together only to disappear again. Growing Up by Russell Baker shows us what is was like growing up between the World Wars. He meets people who influence his life and work ethic. Growing up explains the definition of a good man and a bad man. Good men in the book are hard-working and caring. Good men support their families and stay away from alcohol. Baker also encounters bad men who don’t fit the description at all. These men like Mr. Simmons and Mimi’s father are rude, mean, and self-centered.
In Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, Annette Lareau discussed the extensive amount of research she conducted employing observational and interview techniques. She collected data on the middle class, working class, and poor families. She was trying to understand the impact of a child’s early parental guidance on the child’s life. She was able to conduct this research with 12 families, all of whom had fourth graders. She gathered enough information to conclude the major differences in the parenting styles of each type of family, which was directly correlated to socioeconomic status. Annette Lareau opens her book with two chapters to give the reader an idea on what the examples she gives will detail.
Bloom, H. (1999). Plot Summary of “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. Bloom’s Major Short Story
The book Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life published in 2003, takes a close look into the lives of different families in the United States and how they are affected by race and social class and how their family lives differ. The Author, Annette Lareau, discusses how social class affects the parenting styles and how these parenting styles are affecting the children. Although Lareau’s book could use a few changes, it is well written and it is a good read to help better understand how social class and parenting styles can affect the lives of different children on a personal level. In
The thought of her brothers still being in her former home environment in Maine hurt her. She tried to think of a way to get at least one of her brothers, the sickly one, to come and be with her. She knew that her extended family was financially able to take in another child, and if she showed responsibility, there would be no problem (Wilson, 40). She found a vacant store, furnished it, and turned it into a school for children (Thinkquest, 5). At the age of seventeen, her grandmother sent her a correspondence, and requested her to come back to Boston with her brother (Thinkquest, 6).
...e on her part. Throughout the story, the Mother is portrayed as the dominant figure, which resembled the amount of say that the father and children had on matters. Together, the Father, James, and David strived to maintain equality by helping with the chickens and taking care of Scott; however, despite the effort that they had put in, the Mother refused to be persuaded that Scott was of any value and therefore she felt that selling him would be most beneficial. The Mother’s persona is unsympathetic as she lacks respect and a heart towards her family members. Since the Mother never showed equality, her character had unraveled into the creation of a negative atmosphere in which her family is now cemented in. For the Father, David and James, it is only now the memories of Scott that will hold their bond together.
O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. Eds. John Schilb, and John Clifford. "Chapter 13 Doing Justice" Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. p1283-1296. Print.
The impact of an author’s life on their writing is vast. Many people do not see the large influence of an author’s childhood on their writings, but it plays a major role. The life of Flannery O’Connor is no exception to this. The great Catholic lifestyle of her parents helped persuade her writing of, “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”
Each of the characters in, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” by Flannery O’Connor, have their own set of morals, and they each have a series of anomalous complications. John Wesley, June Star, Bailey, grandmother, and the Misfit all have contrasting psychological issues that repel the reader from esteeming them.
Theories abound around how people develop emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. This essay will examine the theories of five leaders on the subject of development.
Her parents meet at a social gathering in town and where married shortly thereafter. Marie’s name was chosen by her grandmother and mother, “because they loved to read the list was quite long with much debate over each name.” If she was a boy her name would have been Francis, so she is very happy to have born a girl. Marie’s great uncle was a physician and delivered her in the local hospital. Her mother, was a housewife, as was the norm in those days and her father ran his own business. Her mother was very close with her parents, two brothers, and two sisters. When her grandmother was diagnosed with asthma the family had to move. In those days a warm and dry climate was recommended, Arizona was the chosen state. Because her grandma could never quite leave home, KY, the family made many trips between the states. These trips back and forth dominated Marie’s childhood with her uncles and aunts being her childhood playmates.
O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, 4th ed. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gloria. Boston: Pearson, 2012. 352-365. Print.
O’Conner, Flannery. “A Good Man Is Hard To Find.” The Backpack Literature: An Introduction To Fiction. Eds. X. J. Kennedy and Danna Gloria. New York: Longman, 2010. 355-368. Print.
It is tragic to hear the anguished cry of parents: "What have we done to harm him? Why doesn't he care about anything? He is a bright boy, but why does he fail to pass his examination? Why won't he talk to us?" A remarkable and absorbing novel, J. D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye," may serve to calm the apprehensions of fathers and mothers about their own responsibilities, though it doesn't attempt to explain why all boys who dismay their elders have failed to successfully pass the barrier between childhood and young manhood.
O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. By Robert DiYanni. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Print.
Looking back on my childhood experiences and influences I can certainly say that my grandmother had the biggest impact on my development, she influenced my relationship with God and showed me how to live as a Christian woman. She would take me church every Sunday and sometimes I would stay at her house when my parents’ house was not suitable for children, which happened often, because of the chaos and dysfunction of a household that ran on alcohol and drugs. My grandmother gave me reason to live, when there was no will.