Matilda
Squinting her eyes and concentrating very hard, Matilda managed to tip the glass of water over onto Miss Trunchbull, this being only the beginning of what was to happen next with her new found powers. Matilda, by Roald Dahl was creative and fun. I recommend it to anyone who is in for a little youthful adventure. It tells the story of a little girl with a horrible life. Her parents have no interest in her, and the Headmistress at her school is monstrous. Matilda deals with her problems by reading and learning mathematics. She is very bright and clever for a five year old. She soon discovers that she is able to move objects with her mind alone.
Matilda’s parents are Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood. Being completely involved in the “Tele,” Mrs. Wormwood pays no attention to Matilda and what she has to say about anything. Mr. Wormwood, on the other hand, does nothing for Matilda except chastise her every move. Feeling unloved, Matilda turns to reading to keep her busy. Thinking that books are stupid, Mr. Wormwood calls her stupid and foolish for wasting her time on such things. Despite the verbal abuse from her parents, Matilda continues with her interests and does what she can to get back at her father for constantly denouncing her. For instance, she replaced his hair tonic with her mother’s hair dye, causing Mr. Wormwood’s hair to be turned a platinum blonde.
On her first day of school, Matilda’s teacher Miss Honey becomes very interested in her abilities, wondering where the child picked up such an ability to solve complicated mathematical equations and read such great novels for a child her age. Miss Honey is a petite woman. She is timid towards her aunt, Miss Trunchbull, but can handle the first semester kids very well. Miss Trunchbull, a large intimidating woman, is very cold at heart. She was suspected of rubbing off Miss Honey’s father, Dr. Honey, and forged a will that gave her his house and left nothing for Miss Jennifer Honey. When Matilda was told about this, she became enthralled in helping out Miss Jennifer Honey with getting her house back.
One day in class, the atrocious Miss Trunchbull was yelling at everyone because there was a newt in her water. She, of course, blamed the whole milestone on Matilda, who was innocent.
...he story with the various characters. Melinda’s acquaintance, Heather works hard at finding friends and becoming popular, but in the end she turns away from Melinda. The story is about the high school years. Many times when we are growing up we can’t wait to get there because we will be treated as adults, but the truth is the problems that come along when we are older can be difficult. The various clans of students help present the theme by showing us that there are many different types of people. The popular cheerleaders, the jocks, the geeks and those who are just trying to fit in. Melinda transforming the janitor’s closet symbolizes her hiding her feelings and Melinda’s inability to speak and tell people what happened to her. High school can be fun but unfortunately through the eyes of Melinda it was a very hard time.
As the narrator begins his description of Miss Giles, he says, “Lillian always had a knack with babies and could put even the most difficult ones down for a nap within minutes” (118). When the narrator shares that Miss Giles’ favorite child is the “ugliest, fussiest baby ever born” (119), the narrator shows the readers Miss Giles’ goodwill and kindly feelings toward the baby, Julian Cash, that everyone else rejects or scorns, and thus displays her resilience to conform to societal norms or be weathered by the judgment of others. Miss Giles, years later, agrees to care for two unknown children, even though Social Services has deemed her too old to be on their official registry of foster families. The willingness of Miss Giles to take on care for the two children, Keith and the baby, exemplifies her unwavering altruism in childcare. Upon the arrival of Keith and the baby, Miss Giles refrains from complaint or doubt, and “goes to make up a crib and a cot with clean sheets” (119). Miss Giles never asks questions or hesitates when faced with taking care of children, she simply performs the job. Miss Giles is tough, and able to overcome the problems of the difficultly of childcare in her age and her hearing problem that she faces. As the narrator continues to introduce Miss Giles to the readers, the narrator observes that, “a long time ago, Lillian was in love with Charles Verity’s great-grandson, but he went to New York and married a rich girl, and Lillian stayed put” (119). Miss Giles does not dwell on the departure of the love of her life across the United States, but instead, channels her loss of love for a spouse into love for taking care of orphaned or foster children. Finally, Miss Giles is resilient in her response to the urgent situation with which she faces when left with the infant, nearly dead body of Julian Cash. When Miss Giles
For much of her life, Mona Gray has lived a strange life after her father contracted an unknown disease. Mona soon becomes a quitter, and although she excels at many things, she always forces herself to quit. All of this changed when Benjamin Smith, the new science teacher, arrives. With his eccentric ways he is able to see through Mona when most people were not, including her family. Mona's perfect little world is threatened when she crosses paths with love and her soul mate, Benjamin Smith.
Aunt Neva gave the boy his appreciation of fantasy, by reading him the Oz books,
Chapter 2: Dill left, and school started. Jem accompanied Scout to school. There was a new first grade teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher, a young teacher recently out of college. She was irritated that Scout had learned the alphabet, because Miss Fisher wanted to teach them from scratch, and now it would “interfere with her reading” Later, she asks who has lunches and who goes into town. She offers Walter some money, but he declines because he knows he can’t pay her back. Miss Caroline smacked Scout with a ruler, “whipping her” and sending everyone into a storm of laughter. That disturbed the sixth grade.
The story begins as a tale told to an orphan recovered and claimed by Hibble, a man of mystery, dark and wise. The orphan, Flora, has been retrieved by Hibble and is on a journey to America to meet a fate she does not understand. Along the way, Hibble has been instructed to read to her the diary of her mother, Moll Flanders. It is an introduction to a woman who’s soul does not come across well on the written page, but Hibble struggles along, trying to entice the young girl with the memory of an extraordinary friend and confidante. Threats and lectures begin a journey that soon intrigues the young woman on its own merit. Her mother, it would seem, was more than she ever dreamed.
from the teachers point of view; she tries to judge the Cunninghams and the Ewells from
Victoria’s early childhood was a very sheltered and reserved one, her best friends growing up was her nanny’s a...
...n she acrs as their mother. When the Darling children’s return to the nursery they accept the rules imposed on them, in effect trading freedom for security. They will have to accept the dominance of Mr. and Mrs. Darling and leave behind their pirates, redskins, and mermaids and in turn grow up. “Soon they settled down to being as ordinary as you or me” (218). They give up their world of wonderment for an average life where they must enter into a society with certain expectations for them.
The plot of “The Lesson” contributes to its theme of freeing one's self from a social class. A group of New York City kids, but particularly the narrator, Sylvia, believe that they are better than the other people in their neighborhood, such as the junk man who does his work like he was a big-time president, or their volunteer teacher, Miss Moore. This feeling of superiority is unintentionally encouraged by the parents when they speak of Miss Moore like she is a dog (60). Consequently, Sylvia does not understand the importance of a college degree or that she and all the other children are poor (61). Miss Moore takes the children to F.A.O. Schwarz where they see very expensive toys and even a woman wearing a fur coat during summer; the children develop the general opinion that the “white folks crazy” (61-63). One toy in particular that catches their attention while window sh...
The story follows three girls- Jeanette, the oldest in the pack, Claudette, the narrator and middle child, and the youngest, Mirabella- as they go through the various stages of becoming civilized people. Each girl is an example of the different reactions to being placed in an unfamiliar environment and retrained. Jeanette adapts quickly, becoming the first in the pack to assimilate to the new way of life. She accepts her education and rejects her previous life with few relapses. Claudette understands the education being presented to her but resists adapting fully, her hatred turning into apathy as she quietly accepts her fate. Mirabella either does not comprehend her education, or fully ignores it, as she continually breaks the rules and boundaries set around her, eventually resulting in her removal from the school.
To begin with, Miss Moore, Sylvia, and the other children are from the “slums”. However, what differentiate Miss Moore and everyone else in the neighborhood is that she has a college education, and speaks Standard English. As a result, Miss Moore plays the role as teacher to the neighborhood children. Most of the children from the neighborhood were poverty stricken and had a ghetto vernacular. Especially, Sylvia, who mouth is atrocious and has a strong animosity towards Miss Moore. For instance,“Miss Moore was her name. The only woman on the block with no first name. And she was black as hell, cept for her feet, which were fish-white and spooky.” Moreover, Miss Moore has high expectations of the children, so she takes them on a trip outside the hood to unveil the real world. Before going on the trip to the toy store Miss Moore tried to explain the value of money to the children. For example, “So we heading down the street and she’s boring us silly about what things cost and what our parents make and how much goes for rent and how money ain’t divided up right in this country.” At first, Sylvia is t...
Amanda was abandoned by her husband and now must take care of her two children, Tom and Laura. Amanda considers Tom unrealistic, daydreaming about becoming a recognized poet rather than staying committed to his present job. Amanda is overwhelmingly confused and perplexed about the future. Worse still, the fact that Laura is crippled worries her even more. Amanda tries to arrange everything for Laura lest she will live paralyzed in the threatening world. Aware of the reality, she enrolls her in a secretarial course in the hope that she would become, if not successful in her career, at least independent. Disappointed by Laura's inability to cope with the classes in the business school, Amanda tries desperately find her a reliable husband who can provide material and emotional security. But her hopes are unrealistic. Not even having met Jim, the gentleman caller Tom brings home at her mother's request, Amanda, looking at the little, slipper-shaped moon, asks Laura to make a wish on it for happiness and good fortune to be brought by this gentleman caller, when it is just wishful thinking on her...
The general idea that was shown throughout the story was the power of education and those that try to stop it. Towards the beginning of the musical, Matilda was shown reading a book while her mother and brother watched the television. The importance of this scene creates the picture for the audience of what Matilda values most. However, because of the fact she would rather read then watch the television, her mother disliked her and thought she was abnormal compared to her unintelligent older brother. Matilda’s parents wanted to distort the view of education that she held so dear. That is why her father especially tried hard to influence her choice of education over “fun”. Furthermore, education is once again shown as being important with Miss Honey, Matilda’s teacher. Miss honey confronts headmistress Agatha Trunchbull and demands for Matilda to be put into an upper-level class. Although this request is denied
The movie Matilda is about a young first grade girl named Matilda Wormwood. Matilda is a very smart young girl with a family that does not pay any interest in her. From a young age she had to take care of herself. At the tender age of three she had read all the magazines and newspapers in her home, so she looked up where the library was and walked to it. From then on Matilda would read anything she could in the library, the books gave her an important message, that she was not alone. A few years past and Matilda wanted to go to school, her father, Harry Wormwood, who thought she was four when she was actually six, didn’t want her to go because he wanted her home to sign for packages. Although awful, Harry did manage to give her one piece of