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Recommended: My memorable summer vacation
Every kid in the family loved going to Aunt Nell’s house. Who would not want to spend the summer with a huge inground pool, Corvette in the garage, central air conditioning in a red brick house in one of the most desirable neighborhoods in Cincinnati? Aunt Nell was a sweet, but stern older lady that never missed Sunday church. Her house will go down in our family’s history as being the best places to spend the hot days of summer.
Unfortunately, most of the children in my family suffered abused in one way or another and we all knew that Aunt Nell’s house was safe for all kids. Aunt Nell was my great aunt and her sister is my grandmother Janice. I was raised by my grandmother and she was close to Aunt Nell, so I was luckier than my cousins; getting to visit more often.
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We knew that soon her front door would fly open and she would emerge waving us in. As soon as I took one step in the door; the smell of Juicy Fruit gum came rushing to greet me.
Aunt Nell stopped everyone right inside the door for a debriefing of how life was going and to take our jackets or coats. Within minutes we followed her through the living room and dining room, then to an area that connected all the rooms. On the Left you had the guest room or her husband’s bedroom and known as the Blue room. The next-door lead to the basement and the doorway next to the basement door was the Kitchen. To the right was the bathroom and the Red room which was Aunt Nells
A. Creech accounted for many memories during her early childhood years. She took many trips with her parents and four siblings. She enjoyed the company of others and making memories. Often, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends visited her and her family, making her always used to warm, large, extended family. Her favorite memories came from Creech’s traditional summer vacations to various destinations. She loved road tripping with her “noisy and rowdy family” across the country. Her never-forgotten memories eventually led to her recreation of the trip into many of her books.
Although this story is told in the third person, the reader’s eyes are strictly controlled by the meddling, ever-involved grandmother. She is never given a name; she is just a generic grandmother; she could belong to anyone. O’Connor portrays her as simply annoying, a thorn in her son’s side. As the little girl June Star rudely puts it, “She has to go everywhere we go. She wouldn’t stay at home to be queen for a day” (117-118). As June Star demonstrates, the family treats the grandmother with great reproach. Even as she is driving them all crazy with her constant comments and old-fashioned attitude, the reader is made to feel sorry for her. It is this constant stream of confliction that keeps the story boiling, and eventually overflows into the shocking conclusion. Of course the grandmother meant no harm, but who can help but to blame her? O’Connor puts her readers into a fit of rage as “the horrible thought” comes to the grandmother, “that the house she had remembered so vividly was not in Georgia but in Tennessee” (125).
Response to Literature - Great Aunts: How’s the relationship between you and other family members that don’t meet each other for a long time? What thoughts and feelings would come up when they stand by you to accomplish your dreams? These are the questions explored in Margaret Atwood’s short story, “Great Aunts.” In “Great Aunts” the narrator’s family left Nova Scotia during the Depression because there were no jobs. Although they lived far away from Nova Scotia, they still contacted their family through letters.
Even with the pain of bearing children, raising them, doing household and even farm chores, their efforts have never been truly appreciated. Mrs. Wright was “…real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid—and fluttery…” as Mrs. Hale, her neighbor, describes her (22). This would all soon change after her wedding day. With Mr. Wright’s insipid character and lack of patience of any joyous sound, Mrs. Wright’s spirit dwindled to nothing. It seems she spent hours at a time focusing on her quilts, preserves, and caring for the only life there was in the house, her canary. Even when Mr. Hale offered to get a party telephone, Mr. Wright responded, “…folks talk too much anyway…”(5). This silence he preferred also applied to his spouse. There were no hugs given out much less a smile. He failed to give her even the most minimal sing of appreciation much less the emotional warmth she hungered for.
Laughter tinkles into the backyard where we sit around a crackling campfire. Jeanie and Wanda, along with their niece join us. My sisters jump up, grab Leveah and dash to the front yard. Warm smiles glow on our faces as we watch them go.
Marie’s grandparent’s had an old farm house, which was one of many homes in which she lived, that she remembers most. The house was huge, she learned to walk, climb stairs, and find hiding places in it. The house had a wide wrap around porch with several wide sets of stairs both in front and in back. She remembers sitting on the steps and playing with one of the cats, with which there was a lot of cats living on the farm...
The outspoken narrator of Eudora Welty's "Why I Live at the P.O.," known to us only as "Sister," intends to convince us--the world at large--that her family has "turned against" her, led on by her sister, itella-Rondo. To escape her family, she explains, she has left home and now lives at the P.O., where she is postmistress. As she delivers her monologue, the narrator reveals more about herself than she intends. We see her as a self-centered young woman who enjoys picking fights and provoking melodramatic scenes in which she is the center of attention. Not too far into the story, we realize that others in the family behave as melodramatically as Sister does, and we begin to wonder why. The story's setting may provide the answer: In a small town in Mississippi, sometime after World War II and before television, entertainment is scarce. The members of this family cope with isolation and boredom by casting themselves in a continning melodrama, with each person stealing as many scenes as possible.
After the war, America was stricken with poverty and many unfortunate families were tormented. The Cunningham family is a typical example of a “Poor” (21). The Cunninghams were so poverty-stricken that Walter continuously came to school without lunch as “He had none today nor tomorrow or the next day” (24). Majority of people in the South treated the Cunninghams with less respect because they’re impoverished. Aunt Alexandra told Scout not to play with Walter. “I'll tell you why,” Aunt Alexandra said "Because- he- is- trash, that's why you can't play with him” (244). Everyone needs somebody to look down to, Aunt Alexandra is trying to lift her own self-esteem up through shaming the Cunninghams. Whereas Calpurnia is a fair women that believes people should be treated equally. When Walter “drowns his food in syrup”(24), Scout decides it’s normal to disrespect Walter because “Hes just a Cunningham”(24). Calpurnia responded to Scouts statement by "Don't matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house's yo' company, and don't you let me catch you remarkin' on their ways like you was so high and mighty!”(25) Calpurnia shows Scout and the readers a significant message that wealth shouldn’t determine how we treat people. Lee is trying to persuade us to act more like Calpurnia’s manner towards rich and
If someone were to look through the Fitzsimmon’s scrapbook and see Annie’s written accounts, they would see a family who went through many hardships while immigrating to America. They would also see how important it was to have family to help them in a time of need.
grandma’s house. Little Red was sure a sight to see as she drove through town. As she
In small New England town; mid 1800s an upcoming Christmas looked like it would be a bleak affair to the four March girls. With their father at the Civil War battlefront, and their saintly mother, Marmee, as they called her, working to support her family, the holiday would be void of many of its traditional pleasures. With the dollar Marmee said they might spend, the girls each settled on buying simple gifts for their mother and for the Hummel family down the road; and receiving, in kind, surprise treats of ice cream and bonbons from rich old Mr. Lawrence next door.
“Louisa, Please Come Home,” by Shirley Jackson, is a first-person narrative story that tells the experience of Louisa in the small town of Rockville during the 1950s. In fact, there are six characters in this story. The protagonists of this story are Louisa Tether, Mrs. Peacock, Carol Tether, Mr. Peacock, Mrs. Peacock, and Paul. Carol and Louisa are sisters, and the daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Tether. Paul is a neighbor of the Tether family, and Mrs. Peacock owns the rooming house where Louisa Tether lives. Mr. and Mrs. Tether, Mrs. Peacock, and Paul worked together to solve the problem of Louis running away from home. The main character Louisa Tether is a nineteen-year-old-girl, who is fair-haired, five feet four inches tall, and weights one hundred twenty-six pounds. Her personality could be described as intelligent, impudent, and organized. The following scenes from the book exemplify these three personality traits throughout the story. Shirley Jackson shows the life of Louisa, and ultimately the aspects of this character’s personality shine.
The edges of the bare counter almost punctured my clammy hands, sending a sharp pain up my arms; my legs trembled as I tried to keep myself upright as I stood among the rest of my family. Their faces remained sullen as they stood in a jagged line along the walls of the congested ICU room. Grandma sat next to Kristy, hands clenched around her daughter’s limp hand and her rosary, trying to find any guidance from God. Her eyes never left Kristy’s face, but Kristy’s son did not dare look upon her face, for it was too overbearing. Cody knelt on the floor with his head in his hands, he wept in the arms of our grandfather who held him in comfort even though his face remained somber. Kristy’s pale skin and emotionless face was something no one ever
There are many thoughts and memories that I still retain from my childhood. Many have given me new experiences and taught me lessons that have helped me grow. My great Auntie Anne has provided me with several memories, which I still recall occasionally. What are most difficult to forget are the memories of the times in her home. I have never found a home like hers. The memories I obtained outside of the cottage, in the main entrance, in the old library, and in the secret room are the memories most difficult to forget.
If drama is tension, then Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House must be an all-out war, with Ibsen taking on the role of a Realistic Period Patton. The play, first published in 1879, tells the story of Nora, a middle-aged house wife living in a society in which she has no rights or voice. However, with disregard to societal norms and the law, Nora forges her father’s signature to borrow money so that she and her family may go on a vacation that is responsible for saving her husband’s life. With Nora’s action unbeknownst to him, Nora’s husband, Torvald, fires the man from whom Nora loaned the money. Ibsen foreshadows, introduces, and resolves the conflict flowingly, leaving the reader in suspense throughout the entire play.