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painful experience of childhood
development of personal identity from middle childhood, through adolescence, into young adulthood
development of personal identity from middle childhood, through adolescence, into young adulthood
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No matter how bad the situations seem they all happen for a reason. Sharon Olds had to realize this through her own pain and suffering. She portrays herself as the speaker who goes back to May of 1937, and sees her parents. In “I Go Back to May 1937” she tells a story of when her parents were still just dating. They were just about to graduate and get married. Instead of feeling joyful or smiling at the sight of them she had a completely different reaction. She wanted to go up to them and stop them. Maybe they looked innocent then, but she knew that they would not remain that way for long. By telling the story of her parent’s ignorance, betrayal, and the difficult decisions that soon follow, Sharon Olds shows that the will to live helps people …show more content…
She says that, “They are just kids, they are dumb. All they know is they are / innocent, they would never hurt anyone.” (Olds 848, 10-12). This quote shows that they used to be innocent kids. She calls them dumb. They are dumb because they don’t know what she knows. They don’t see that one day they will no longer be those innocent kids. Their innocents as kids led them to not have much power which they always secretly wanted. For them having children let them finally have the power they wanted but they took advantage of it and used it in the wrong ways. Sharon saw this and finally understood that it was not her fault, and this realization made her stronger and helped …show more content…
She knew that those innocent people she was looking at would change, and be the reason that her childhood was not an easy one. She wanted to change it all and make them stop. She wanted to go up to them and tell them, “you are going to do things you cannot imagine you would ever do, / you are going to do bad things to children, / you are going to suffer in ways you never heard of, / you are going to want to die” (Olds 848, 15-19). This shows that her parents betrayed her by just being together and no longer being innocent. They changed from who they seemed to be right in front of her; into the people that she had known her whole life. In her eyes they no longer are innocent people who would never hurt anyone. They turn into the people who hurt her and do bad things to her. As a child, Sharon’s parents told her that she was “going to hell” (“Sharon”). She was betrayed and treated badly as a child. Their betrayal was the reason that she was faced with her difficult decision. If they never would have betrayed her, she never would have wanted to stop them from being together and never would have had the chance to make this decision. Now she has a chance to stop them from getting together and stopping all of her
The premise of the novel (Year of Wonders) could be seen as the antithesis of a journey as the villagers voluntarily agree to undertake a quarantine, which means they literally cannot go anywhere. In what way does this text represent a journey?
enduring love for her young grandson is what keeps her going. Her life is one
of the book, Janie resents her grandmother for “living” her life for her and planning her future. To find out what will happen in a persons future, they need to live their life on their own an...
was no longer alone. She had friends to love her and guide her to the next
The comparisons--North vs. South, city vs. country, technology vs. nature--are numerous and have been well documented in 20th century literature. Progress contrasts sharply with rooted cultural beliefs and practices. Personalities and mentalities about life, power and change differ considerably between worlds... worlds that supposed-intellectuals from the West would classify as "modern" and "backwards," respectively. When these two worlds collide, the differences--and the danger--rise significantly. This discrepancy between the old and the new is one of the principal themes of Gloria Naylor's Mama Day. The interplay between George, Ophelia and Mama Day shows the discrepancies between a "modern" style of thinking and one born of spirituality and religious beliefs. Dr. Buzzard serves as a weak bridge between these two modes of thought. In Mama Day, the Westernized characters fail to grasp the power of the Willow Springs world until it is too late.
her. Having to go through the hardships of death, new places and family, she knew what
“I Go Back to May 1937” by Sharon Olds, is a poem about the bad relationship between the speaker's parents while, “Fifth Grade Autobiography” by Rita Dove, is a poem describing a fond memory encapsulated in a photograph. “Fifth Grade Autobiography” is about the speakers trip to a lake, in Michigan, with her grandparents and her brother. These two poems have very different plots but, both poems are told in the present tense, although the events in each story have already happened in the past. In “I Go Back to May 1937” the speaker goes back to a time before her parents were married, and in “Fifth Grade Autobiography” the speaker is traveling back to a moment saved in a picture. The speakers in both poems learn to understand themselves and what they wanted in life. In “Fifth Grade Autobiography”, as the speaker describes the image we can sense that she had a strong
...her to feel despair. Her misery resulted in her doing unthinkable things such us the unexplainable bond with the woman in the wallpaper.
Grief played a large role in the lives of the Boatwright sisters and Lily Owens. They each encountered death, injustice, and sadness. Grief impacted and left an imprint on each of them. Grief proved fatal for May. August knew that grief was just another aspect of life; that it had to be accepted and then left in the past. June and Lily learned to not let grief rule their lives. Life is not inherently good or bad – events not solely joyful or grievous – it is glorious in its perfect imperfection.
...n high school and she was striving for big goals, working hard to achieve them, and overcoming countless obstacles. Even when her father stole that piggy bank money she did not give up. Her purpose in life helped transfer her into adulthood. Without this determination and sacrifice, seceding into a successful adult would have been much more challenging.
In her novel The Daughter of Time Josephine Tey looks at how history can be misconstrued through the more convenient reinterpretation of the person in power, and as such, can become part of our common understanding, not being true knowledge at all, but simply hearsay. In The Daughter of Time Josephine claims that 40 million school books can’t be wrong but then goes on to argue that the traditional view of Richard III as a power obsessed, blood thirsty monster is fiction made credible by Thomas More and given authenticity by William Shakespeare. Inspector Alan Grant looks into the murder of the princes in the tower out of boredom. Tey uses Grant to critique the way history is delivered to the public and the ability of historians to shape facts to present the argument they believe.
...e idea of living peacefully she did what Nana did to her. She took her childish dream version of the situation and turned it into reality. Even though it was not the nicest way of telling her that she was wrong it was the best. Since she loved)((use more in P))) her family she decided to be more direct and use tough love to save everyone.
devotion to a child she had murdered. A chance to stay by her side no matter how
Vine Deloria, author of The World We Used to Live In, not only introduces his readers to indigenous Native American spirituality and traditional practices including ceremonies but also brings several important ideas of native spirituality to the forefront. He discusses the importance of having and maintaining a relationship with mother earth and all living beings; an interconnectedness with nature in all forms that is crucial to the understanding and practice of Native American spirituality. Dreams and visions were discussed as an important form of communication in indigenous spirituality. The important relationships with animal and plant spirits are discussed. The concept of power and what is considered power in Native Spirituality. Deloria talks about the importance of place in indigenous spirituality. It is believed that power and wisdom rests in places. The landscape holds memories of all that has ever happened. Through all the aspects Deloria discusses in his book, readers get a clear view and better understanding of Native American spirituality through various accounts of different tribal activities and interviews from both emic and etic perspectives of culture. By using a wide range of research, Deloria does a fairly good job of remaining unbiased which is a difficult thing for anyone to do.
The novel, Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other (2011) written by Sherry Turkle, presents many controversial views, and demonstrating numerous examples of how technology is replacing complex pieces and relationships in our life. The book is slightly divided into two parts with the first focused on social robots and their relationships with people. The second half is much different, focusing on the online world and it’s presence in society. Overall, Turkle makes many personally agreeable and disagreeable points in the book that bring it together as a whole.