Certain factors in a person’s childhood can influence the decision that a person makes. These factors are likely very significant and can change the perspectives of different people. Langston Hughes, the writer of Thank You M’am, and Barbara Neely, the writer of Spilled Salt, both use various literary techniques to convey to the theme of childhood having an influence on a person’s behavior and decisions. These techniques allow the authors to present this theme more successfully through the use of sympathy, humor, and character. One method of presenting a theme is through the use of sympathy. Sympathy can be defined as sharing the feeling of sorrow or a relation of affinity or harmony between people. In both stories, sympathy is used to create pathos in the reader. In the story Thank You, M’am, sympathy is shown towards Rogers from the large, dominant woman, also known as Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones. After Roger’s attempted robbery, Mrs. Jones takes a glance at him before saying, "I got a great mind to wash your face for you. Ain't you got nobody home to tell you to wash you face?” Roger’s response to her question is “No’m”, indicating that he is living without a family and in likely poverty. This allows the audience to recognize the situation the 14 year old was likely placed in and contributes to the idea that childhood influences a person’s decisions. In comparison, in Spilled Salt, the sympathy is more directed to Myrna. This is accomplished when the author indicates that “She couldn't even think it, let alone say it. Assault, attack, molest, anything but rape. Anyone but her son, her bright and funny boy, her high school graduate". Clearly, because Myrna cannot believe the horrible act her son has committed, the aut... ... middle of paper ... ...not want to speak to her son much because she’s scared to hear the answers he will give. “I can’t go through this again; she mouthed soundlessly to the breeze”. This shows that Myrna is not as confident as Mrs. Luella. Because one character is more confident than the other, the message is more effectively brought out. In conclusion, in both “Thank you, Ma’m” by Langston Hughes and “Spilled Salt” by Barbara Neely, there are certain factors in a person’s childhood that can influence the decision that people make. These factors are likely very significant and can change the perspectives of different people. Through the use of different literary techniques, the authors can successfully present their theme through the use of sympathy, humor and character. Overall Mr. Hughes has done a better job in conveying the theme due to his effective use literary techniques.
It is an emotional and heart-rending chronicle about raising in the dirt-poor of the Alabama hills--and all about moving on with the life but never actually being capable to leave (Bragg, 1997, p. 183). The exceptional blessing for evocation and thoughtful insight and the dramatic voice for the account--notifying readers that author has gained a Pulitzer Award for this featured writing. It is a wrenching account of his own upbringing and family. The story moves around a war haunted, alcoholic person (Bragg's father) and a determined and loving mother who made hard efforts to safeguard her children from the harsh effects of poverty and ignorance, which has constricted her own living standard. In this account, author was talented enough to create for himself on the strength of his mother's support and strong conviction. He left house only to follow his dreams and pursue a respectable career in life, however he is strongly linked to his ancestry. In addition, the memoir shows the efforts of Bragg in which he has both compensated and took revenge from the cruelties of his early childhood. Author's approach towards his past seems quite ambivalent and
In this memoir, James gives the reader a view into his and his mother's past, and how truly similar they were. Throughout his life, he showed the reader that there were monumental events that impacted his life forever, even if he
On the other hand we have a story that is also humorous; however, his literary devices achieve a more childlike tone and his story concludes with a sympathetic effect on the reader . In “Salvation”, by Langston Hughes he takes us back to his inner thirteen year old self and his experience with being “saved” in a church. He explains the internal struggle he faces when he is pressured by a whole congregation to “see jesus” and the ironic effect it has on his perspective towards Jesus.
Throughout the story, the different roles and expectations placed on men and women are given the spotlight, and the coming-of-age of two children is depicted in a way that can be related to by many women looking back on their own childhood. The narrator leaves behind her title of “child” and begins to take on a new role as a young, adolescent woman.
A slum neighborhood located in “Yes, Ma’m” and a brilliant train carriage in “The Storyteller” create the setting for this compare and contrast essay. These short stories are similar in that their themes both focus on negative objects, but play them into a positive light. However, their suggested themes are different in that “Yes Ma’m” tells the reader to not believe in people by where they live, but “The Storyteller” communicates to not judge something based on its formality. Langston Hughes’s “Yes Ma’m” has an implied theme found anywhere, “nice people can be found even in the lowest places on the planet.” Another true theme belonging to Saki’s “The Storyteller,” reads, “Sometimes the most improper story is the best one.” Both main messages are true, and provide a very keen focal point for the reader to enjoy.
Hughes, Langston “I, Too.” Poems, Poets, Poetry: An Introduction and Anthology. 3rd ed. Ed. Helen Vendler.
Growing up is a natural part of life. Everyone grows up. The loss of childish innocence and blind faith in what is said is one chief mark of growing up. Loss of innocence, however, presents itself in many forms, even to adults, and with it brings a greater understanding of the world at large. In literature, authors use the process to explore society and humanity. Through the characters’ loss of innocence, the authors of both To Kill A Mockingbird and Of Mice & Men discuss ideas of prejudice, family, and courage.
In John Connolly’s novel, The Book of Lost Things, he writes, “for in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be”. Does one’s childhood truly have an effect on the person one someday becomes? In Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle and Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, this question is tackled through the recounting of Jeannette and Amir’s childhoods from the perspectives of their older, more developed selves. In the novels, an emphasis is placed on the dynamics of the relationships Jeannette and Amir have with their fathers while growing up, and the effects that these relations have on the people they each become. The environment to which they are both exposed as children is also described, and proves to have an influence on the characteristics of Jeannette and Amir’s adult personalities. Finally, through the journeys of other people in Jeannette and Amir’s lives, it is demonstrated that the sustainment of traumatic experiences as a child also has a large influence on the development of one’s character while become an adult. Therefore, through the analysis of the effects of these factors on various characters’ development, it is proven that the experiences and realities that one endures as a child ultimately shape one’s identity in the future.
As I have been reading memoirs about memory for this class, each essay made me recall or even examine my past memory closely. However, the more minutely I tried to recall what happened in the past, the more confused I got because I could not see the clear image and believe I get lost in my own memory, which I thought, I have preserved perfectly in my brain. The loss of the details in each memory has made me a little bit sentimental, feeling like losing something important in my life. But, upon reading those essays, I came to realize that remembering correct the past is not as important as growing up within memory. However, the feelings that were acquired from the past experience tend to linger distinctly. The essay that is related to my experience
Peter Pan never wanted to grow up, for he always wanted to be a boy and have fun. On the other hand, the general argument made by author, Anne Sexton, in her poem, “The Fury of Overshoes,” is that childhood is most appreciated when a person must be independent. A university student finds that he can relate to the speaker. The high school student, still a child himself, will feel the same as the speaker in her youth. A college student and a high school student reading this poem would conclude this poem with different feelings.
Hughes, Langston. The Negro mother, and other dramatic recitations. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1971. Print.
The comparison between two poems are best analyzed through the form and meaning of the pieces. “Mother to Son” and “Harlem (A Dream Deferred)” both written by the profound poet Langston Hughes, depicts many similarities and differences between the poems. Between these two poems the reader can identify his flow of writing through analyzing the form and meaning of each line.
Through the exemplary use of symbolism, Langston Hughes produced two poems that spoke to a singular idea: Black people have prevailed through trials and tribulations to carry on their legacy as a persevering people. From rivers to stairs, Hughes use of extended metaphor emphasizes the feeling of motion which epitomizes the determination of the people. Overall, the driving feeling of the poems coupled with their strong imagery produce two different works that solidify and validate one main idea.
Langston Hughes is one of the writers affected by events that happened during a certain time frame. As represented in this essay you can see that biological events affect writers and what they write about. Even to this day time affects the way we think, act and write. It influences everything we about us. For example, when 911 happened many people wrote about what was going on, and how people felt. They even drew pictures and murals as dedication and respect for they lives lost. In Dream andOppression the affects were from negative things going on during that time, on the other hand My Peoplehas a positive outlook. Even though the poems were written during different times, they still were influenced by the time period, So you see no matter how little or big things are they impact us all socially.
Firestone, Lisa, Dr. "7 Ways Your Childhood Affects How You Parent."Http://www.psychalive.org/. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Sept.