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Urban life vs rural life
Urban life vs rural life
Urban life vs rural life
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Nora’s Piano Author: Leyton Pritchard Nora was walking down the street she lived on, just outside of Marshalltown Iowa, not able to think of what instrument she wanted to play in her music class. She just moved into Marshalltown about 9 days ago because her family thought they needed a change in scenery. They were fairly wealthy compared to most that lived in Marshalltown. She already got to see her school and her classes and one of them was music, which had 1 variable that the other classes didn’t. She had to choose what instrument she wanted to learn to play. Her main problem was that she had never even touched an instrument before; she never had too. She has always been fascinated with the violin and the piano, but choosing 1 over the other would be impossible for her. While pondering that though, her mother called her to the moving truck. She grew up in a pretty clean environment so smelling the near toxic stench of the trucks exhausts made her very queasy. Her parents were standing on the side of the truck so she decided to join them and escape the black cloud. ‘’Why did you call me down to the truck?’’, Nora asked nervously. ‘’Did I do something wrong?’’ Without saying even a single word Nora’s mother gestured towards the back of the truck. …show more content…
It was white with little copper colored wave designs lining the bottom of the piano. Nora’s father said in explanation, ‘’ We feel that you would be great at playing the piano, so we got this piano for you. Do you like it?’’. Nora expressed her gratitude and went to her room where the piano was being moved, trying not to show any sign of displeasure. She felt that it wasn’t right for her parents to make that decision for her, but what’s done is done. She did think to herself before that she wanted the
Susie’s mother opened the door to let Molly, Susie’s babysitter, inside. Ten-month old Susie seemed happy to see Molly. Susie then observed her mother put her jacket on and Susie’s face turned from smiling to sad as she realized that her mother was going out. Molly had sat for Susie many times in the past month, and Susie had never reacted like this before. When Susie’s mother returned home, the sitter told her that Susie had cried until she knew that her mother had left and then they had a nice time playing with toys until she heard her mother’s key in the door. Then Susie began crying once again.
Since she started in 5th grade, music has been a huge passion for Carlee. Having been a section leader in her band since her sophomore year, Carlee has had plenty of opportunities to perform including switching from trumpet to french horn for a song in her band’s christmas concert this year. She has received
Ellie Mulder is an eighth-grade student at Northview Crossroads Middle School. The fourteen-year-old strives her hardest in every subject, and she will be enrolled in the accelerated courses at the high school next year. Training relentlessly and working hard, Ellie can be found outside of class rowing in long shell boats with her teammates on the Northview Crew Team, performing jazz compositions on her tenor saxophone with the Jazz Band, and playing rhythmic music with the Percussion Ensemble. She was recently accepted into the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band at the high school and looks forward to crafting music with incredibly talented sophomores, juniors and seniors. With a work ethic stronger than most, Ellie is a conscientious, well-rounded
Billie Jo's hands are badly burned as a result of the accident. Her hands ache too much for her to stretch her fingers to play the piano. Billie Jo experiences the loss of her ability to play the piano. The author writes, “On chord and my hands scream with pain for days”(135). This brings grief and anger to Billie Jo because people no longer see her as the talented pianist she is, but instead, they feel sorry for her and see her as a "poor motherless thing. Billie Jo also grieves for her father because he has distanced himself from her. She barely recognizes him. Billie Jo concludes, “I don’t know my father anymore. He sits across from me, he looks like my father....but he is a stranger”(76). Billie Jo grieves because she knows she cannot forgive him for the pail of kerosene or going to the bar while Ma was slowly dying, begging for water. Billie Jo is grieving because she can no longer depend on her piano playing as her ticket out of the dust. As revealed during a performance, “But my hands are no good anymore, my playing’s no good”(136). Billie Jo wants to get out of the dust but she cannot anymore because she plays like a ‘cripple.’ Billie Jo has so many experiences that cause her to grief and fire up with
The piano held symbolic significance in the story of the family and their struggle to move forward. The piano represents the importance and value of slaves during slavery. Slaves were traded for objects during slavery. Slaves were of no importance to their slave owners. As Doaker says in the story “now she had her piano and her niggas too”, meaning slaves were nothing more than an accessory to their slave owners (Wilson 395). Doaker sarcastically speaks of how slaves were not considered humans but property. As Sandy Alexandre states in her work, “Property and Inheritance in August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson”, “Doaker sees greed where there should be something like repulsion or at least a semblance of hesitation to accept such an ill-begotten gift”(77). Alexandre argues slaves are not given the proper respect and are not considered equal. This specific event from the story shows how little to ...
Kate Chopin was a feminist American short story and novelist. She is known as an advocate of feminist authors of the 20th century. Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Brontes influenced her writing. She grew up in a household full of women; including her mother, great-grandmother and the female maids her mother owned. Kate spent a lot of time up in her attack reading.
Racism, persecution, and finally extermination; these were the terrible things that Gypsies, Russians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Homosexuals and Jews had to face during World War II. Hitler took power in January 30, 1933 becoming the prime minister of Germany (Judy L. Hasday p. 12). By 1945, Germans, or the Nazis, had killed nearly two out of every three European Jews as part of the "Final Solution," the Nazi policy to murder the Jews of Europe (U.S. Memorial Museum). More than six million Jewish men, women, and children had been annihilated (Judy L. Hasday p. 12). German authorities were exterminating Jews and many others that were considered inferior to the Aryans. Hitler believed any one that was not an Aryan was inferior to their pure race. He believed in a race that included fair skin, blond hair, and blue eyes a pure German blood. The ones who did not meet these standards were considered a menace to the world. The Holocaust was their “Final Solution” (Gerald Reitlinger 1953). In the movie The Pianist, Wladyslaw Szpilman and all Jews were segregated from everything they had to share with Germans, this included restaurants, bars, and simple things like sidewalks. When Hitler had gotten to power he ordered to boycott all Jewish stores. This made it harder for Jews to survive. Then the authorities took everything the Jews had away, even their coins were worth less than a regular piece of metal. But why would anyone stay in the place where they are not wanted? The Pianist is a film that is historically correct because it portrays the cruelty that took place during the holocaust; it showed how much families struggled together to survive in the concentration camps.
Nora’s first step towards becoming an independent woman begins when she is bound to forage her father’s name in order to save her dyeing husband. Nora’s husband, Torvald Helmer, is in a critical condition, and the doctor’s only prescription is to head south for a period of time. With Torvald’s condition, Nora’s only alternative in order to fund the trip south, is to obtain a loan. However, Torvald’s pride as the head of the house would deny Nora the ability to obtain the loan, even if his life depended on it, as is the situation. Therefore, Nora can only seek help from her father. Her father is on his death bed, and terrible news such as Torvald’s critical condition would surely push him over the edge. As a result, Nora forges her father’s name on the loan contract, which she obtains from Mr. Krogstad. Although this act is against the law, Nora took the decision in order to save her husband. She j...
middle of paper ... ... Music was not taught in the high school I was in. To satisfy my interest in learning about music and how to play musical instruments, I had to find a source of education other than school; a great depiction in agreement with Graff’s claim that students are being limited by not considering their interests when creating curricula (Graff 197). In conclusion, education is broader than just falling into what the contemporary school system has to offer. Both Gatto and Graff proved this by explaining how conforming students to certain perspectives of education limits their potential in other educational branches that interest the students.
Many women in modern society make life altering decisions on a daily basis. Women today have prestigious and powerful careers unlike in earlier eras. It is more common for women to be full time employees than homemakers. In 1879, when Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll's House, there was great controversy over the out come of the play. Nora’s walking out on her husband and children was appalling to many audiences centuries ago. Divorce was unspoken, and a very uncommon occurrence. As years go by, society’s opinions on family situations change. No longer do women have a “housewife” reputation to live by and there are all types of family situations. After many years of emotional neglect, and overwhelming control, Nora finds herself leaving her family. Today, it could be said that Nora’s decision is very rational and well overdue.
Nora is a dynamic character. When the play begins Nora is viewed and presented as a playful and carefree person. She seems to be more intent on shopping for frivolous things. But, as time goes on it becomes apparent that Nora actually has a certain amount of seriousness in her decisions and actions in dealing with the debt she incurred to save Torvald’s life. Nora’s openness in her friendship with Dr. Rank changes after he professes his affections toward her. Her restraint in dealing with him shows that Nora is a mature and intelligent woman. Nora shows courage, not seen previously, by manipulating her way around Krogstad and his threats to reveal her secret. After feeling betrayed by Torvald, Nora reveals that she is leaving him. Having
I’ve had many experiences where my success with reaching goals in a limited time frame has been dependent on the implications of motivation on my attitude and behaviour. A particular experience is my hobby of playing piano, which has been impacted by extrinsic factors such as pressure from others, and intrinsic factors due to self-interest. Though I am young, piano has been in many chapters in my life, and the experiences showed the importance of finding the most effective motivation for me.
Walking into my great-grandmother’s living room as a child; lavender filled the room, almost attacking your nose. You would peer through the doorway and immediately see the dark wood of her classic upright piano. It was a piece of art; a sculpture in her private collection. The piano was a remarkable sight; thereupon, any guest who saw the inside of that room always commented on it. At my age, I could only gaze over the edge of the keyboard and admire the worn down, pearl-white keys. But, I still loved to play around on the piano, even though my hands showed novicey. When I sat on the matching bench; my foot acted as a phantom limb, trying to reach blindly for the pedals. The piano resonated beautifully when it played right, and oh dear,
From 1939 to 1945, the world merely watched while six million Jews were viciously executed by the Nazis. Never in the history of the world had man kind experienced such evil against one class of people. The Pianist, a movie directed by Roman Polanski, is a touching, yet brutally honest film about a man living under the unforgiving conditions of the Holocaust. Adrien Brody demonstrates spectacular acting skills while playing this man, Wladyslaw Szpilman. The story starts out in Warsaw, Poland, 1939, at the house of Szpilman’s Jewish family. Szpilman helped to support his family by playing the piano at different cafes and bars, and for the Polish radio station. By 1940, the Nazi force had already impacted many of the Jewish population. The Jewish were only allowed into some shops and restaurants, they had to walk in the gutters, and bow to the Nazis. On October 13, 1940, the Nazis issued an announcement stating that all Jews had to report to a “settlement” in Warsaw by the 31st and wear one-inch armbands with the Star of David printed on them. This was to dist...
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber is a short story that was written in 1937. The short story is about an older man who takes his wife to town for her weekly beauty shop regimen and to also to buy food and weekly supplies. In one story, the male feels imprisoned in marriage and it’s the opposite in the other story. The Story of An Hour by Kate Chopin was published almost half a century prior in 1894. Chopin provides her view of the role of stifled and repressed, married women of the time. The principal character, Louise, feels that she will achieve freedom from the constraints of marriage when her husband passes away. During that time frame divorce was practically unheard of. Death was the only way to be released from the bonds of a miserable marriage. Both of the stories contain themes throughout of marriage and what the roles of husband wife should be. Gender roles are defined as the overt expression of attitudes that indicate to others the degree of your maleness or femaleness. It could be said that your gender role is the public expression of your gender identity. The cohesiveness between the material, style and layout of the short stories provide us with an clarity of what gender roles and matrimony were like then versus modern times.