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Glengarry School Days
Reem Albalawi
Mount Saint Vincent University
GFDD 6510 01
Dr. Robert N. Berard
October 20, 2016
Ralph Connor’s book, “Glengarry School Days,” tells the story of the Children of Glengarry School. As a work of fiction, this novel takes place in the late 1800s or early 1900s. The subject of the text is the one room schoolhouse that serves to educate each of the children. Each of these chapters can be read without the context of the other chapters as they portray glimpses into the children from this school at various periods. However, each of these chapters is also part of a larger whole as there are the same characters within each of them. Furthermore, through reading the text, one begins to have
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For example, Hughie eventually steals money from his parents. He is racked with guilt after stealing from them and is utterly distraught about what to do. Furthermore, Thomas’ mother has also gotten ill. During the chapter, Hughie's Emancipation, Hughie escapes from his current miserable state into work. The text states, “He was quick, too, with the hoe, and ambitious to do his full share of the work, and this won the old man’s respect, so that by the end of the first day there was established between them a solid basis of friendship” (215) One can see from this quote that work is valued. The older man respects the work that Hughie is completing, and Hughie himself finds value in it. Furthermore, readers learn another lesson about the values of both honesty and confession. This lesson comes from the pain Hughie is in from stealing from his parents. Hughie confesses to Thomas' mother and in completing this confession develops a plan to see forgiveness. What is critical is that at the end of the chapter after both confessing and finding forgiveness Hughie feels free. Readers of these passages learn these Christian values from the …show more content…
Originally published in 1902, Connor writes with authority on this subject. Readers of this book receive a glimpse into the lives of historical events, morals, values, and teachings. These moral lessons are woven throughout the entire text and give readers an almost nostalgic view into the lives of the characters. Furthermore, one can see how religion is interwoven into the lives of each of the community members. Throughout this book, examples of times that the religious lesson is similar to the education one (such as respect one's elders) are plentiful. The end result of this book is that readers have a deep appreciation for both Connor's writing style and the daily events that shaped the lives of persons in
A deeply pious man, John considers the Bible a sublime source of moral code, guiding him through the challenges of his life. He proclaims to his kid son, for whom he has written this spiritual memoir, that the “Body of Christ, broken for you. Blood of Christ, shed for you” (81). While John manages to stay strong in the faith and nurture a healthy relationship with his son, his relationship with his own father did not follow the same blueprint. John’s father, also named John Ames, was a preacher and had a powerful effect on John’s upbringing. When John was a child, Father was a man of faith. He executed his role of spiritual advisor and father to John for most of his upbringing, but a shift in perspective disrupted that short-lived harmony. Father was always a man who longed for equanimity and peace. This longing was displayed in his dealings with his other son, Edward: the Prodigal son of their family unit, a man who fell away from faith while at school in Germany. John always felt that he “was the good son, so to speak, the one who never left his father's house” (238). Father always watched over John, examining for any sign of heterodoxy. He argued with John as if John were Edward, as if he were trying to get Edward back into the community. Eventually, John’s father's faith begins to falter. He reads the scholarly books
Flannery O’Connor believed in the power of religion to give new purpose to life. She saw the fall of the old world, felt the force and presence of God, and her allegorical fictions often portray characters who discover themselves transforming to the Catholic mind. Though her literature does not preach, she uses subtle, thematic undertones and it is apparent that as her characters struggle through violence and pain, divine grace is thrown at them. In her story “Revelation,” the protagonist, Mrs. Turpin, acts sanctimoniously, but ironically the virtue that gives her eminence is what brings about her downfall. Mrs. Turpin’s veneer of so called good behavior fails to fill the void that would bring her to heaven. Grace hits her with force and their illusions, causing a traumatic collapse exposing the emptiness of her philosophy. As Flannery O’Connor said, “In Good Fiction, certain of the details will tend to accumulate meaning from the action of the story itself, and when this happens they become symbolic in the way they work.” (487). The significance is not in the plot or the actual events, but rather the meaning is between the lines.
Matthews, Kenneth. "Guardian of the Human Spirit': The Moral Foundation of Nineteen Eighty-Four." Christianity and Literature 40.2 (Winter 1991): 157-167. Rpt. in Children's Literature Review. Ed. Jelena Krstovic. Vol. 171. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Since the first storytellers, religion has played an important part in developing both character and plot. From Ancient Greece to Egypt to Judaism to Christianity, the basic stories of human origins have stood the test of time. Classic books such as The Great Gatsby, The Stranger, and Lord of the Flies are full of religious parallels and imagery. Conceptually, main characters of each work--Gatsby, The Stranger’s Meursault, and Lord of the Flies’ schoolboys attempt to be Christ-like figures, but whose demise is ironically brought about by their own sins.
However, O’Connor has her last book name “Greenleaf” this clarifies her way of writing about imagery, detail and her formal language by expressing her personality which is darkness. The novel emphasizes the lack of grace and faith. There are characters who are involved who wish life to be equal and not have consequences. For example, it is at a farm that Mrs. May owns and her employer name “Scofield” who both work at the barn. O’Connor writing this novel gives the imagery of the Mrs.May begging to be blessed by Jesus because her barn will be handed to her mother-in-law and sees that her effort will be damage. Otherwise, it will care for her sons who don't care. As, pity as Mrs. May she is being brought by her religion to send prayers to her
I am primarily interested in how religion was taught in the early 1970s. Including: what religions were covered, how they were integrated into the text, and the values of the religion that were presented. With my interest in possibly majoring in religious studies I feel that I have an excellent understanding of how religion is taught in our high schools today, but I don’t have a thorough understanding of what it was like to grow up in school in the 1970s and go through school. How was religion presented in the textbooks of schools in the 1970s? My primary goal of this paper is to further my understanding of religion in high schools of the 1970s. Then I would like to further my study by looking at newer documents and regulations that are in place now to govern religion that is taught and expressed in our schools today. What I expect to find is that religion was taught similarly in the 70s without all the newer policies and guidelines of today. Lastly I would like to look at how these policies and regulations in our public schools are affecting our students.
The most successful way to instill righteous and moral behavior and thoughts is by demonstrating our respectable interactions and honest problem solving approaches during difficult times of our lives. “As adults we should dare to be adults that we want our children to be”. They learn by watching and are quick to mimic our behavior with their peers outside of home. The author writes that “we should strive to raise children who: engage with the world from a place of worthiness, embrace their vulnerabilities and imperfections, feel a deep sense of love and compassion for themselves and others, value hard work, perseverance, and respect, and also move through our rapidly changing world with courage and a resilient spirit” (214, 218-219). All of these elements will help to transform the way we live, love, and
Another trait that is displayed by the Pardoner and a character in his tale is hypocrisy. Although the Pardoner is extremely greedy, he continues to try and teach that "Avarice is the root of all evil" (6). The characters in his tale display great hypocrisy as well. As the tale begins, the friends all act very trustworthy and faithful towards all of their friends. They nobly make a decision to risk their lives while trying to slay their friend's murderer. As they talk about their challenge, they pledge "to live and die each of them for the other, / As if he were his own blood brother" (241-242). At the end of the tale, the "brothers" begin to reveal their true nature. They all turn on each other in an attempt to steal the treasure for themselves.
He focuses on the need and importance of teaching ancestral values to the young people, in a way that they can relate and understand. Young people of the world have become un-rooted from tradition, not knowing how they are connected to the world, who they can turn to for guidance and support, and lacking in spiritual leadership. This has caused increased violence, disparity, and suffering around the world. It is the responsibility of all leaders, cultural, spiritual, ethnic, religious, and educational to assist in the understanding of traditions, heritage, ancestral roots, belief systems, and values in a way that the young people of today can comprehend and feel connected. The young people of today are the leaders of tomorrow, they need our guidance and support to grow and mature into responsible adults. They must become re-rooted in tradition and beliefs to maintain a since of stability for the
A collection of short stories published in 1907, Dubliners, by James Joyce, revolves around the everyday lives of ordinary citizens in Dublin, Ireland (Freidrich 166). According to Joyce himself, his intention was to "write a chapter of the moral history of [his] country and [he] chose Dublin for the scene because the city seemed to [b]e the centre of paralysis" (Friedrich 166). True to his goal, each of the fifteen stories are tales of disappointment, darkness, captivity, frustration, and flaw. The book is divided into four sections: childhood, adolescence, maturity, and public life (Levin 159). The structure of the book shows that gradually, citizens become trapped in Dublin society (Stone 140). The stories portray Joyce's feeling that Dublin is the epitome of paralysis and all of the citizens are victims (Levin 159). Although each story from Dubliners is a unique and separate depiction, they all have similarities with each other. In addition, because the first three stories -- The Sisters, An Encounter, and Araby parallel each other in many ways, they can be seen as a set in and of themselves. The purpose of this essay is to explore one particular similarity in order to prove that the childhood stories can be seen as specific section of Dubliners. By examining the characters of Father Flynn in The Sisters, Father Butler in An Encounter, and Mangan's sister in Araby, I will demonstrate that the idea of being held captive by religion is felt by the protagonist of each story. In this paper, I argue that because religion played such a significant role in the lives of the middle class, it was something that many citizens felt was suffocating and from which it was impossible to get away. Each of the three childhood stories uses religion to keep the protagonist captive. In The Sisters, Father Flynn plays an important role in making the narrator feel like a prisoner. Mr. Cotter's comment that "… a young lad [should] run about and play with young lads of his own age…" suggests that the narrator has spent a great deal of time with the priest. Even in death, the boy can not free himself from the presence of Father Flynn (Stone 169) as is illustrated in the following passage: "But the grey face still followed me. It murmured; and I understood that it desired to confess something.
Despite the misfortune Frank O’Connor faces in An Only Child, he has two particularly strong role models to keep him focused on his future. His mother and his teacher Daniel Corkery are the most influential people in his life and he describes both of them with extreme respect and admiration. His mother, his main parental figure because of his father’s unpredictability, is his role model at home and in life. Her ability to overcome her difficult childhood growing up as an orphan as well as how she continues to overcome the struggles they face as a family inspires the author in his own struggles. Daniel Corkery, one of O’Connor’s instructors at his school, acts as a guiding, supportive father figure in his life. As the author’s teacher, he inspires
There was a man by the name of Thomas of Elderfield who had a life full of ups and downs, but who never lost his faith in Christianity. He came from a poor family and worked his way up the social ladder to a successful business man. This climb up the social ladder was beneficial to him, but soon led to trouble as he attracted a suitor. After several years of infidelity with the suitor, Thomas’s conscious got to him and he discontinued seeing the married woman. His faith in God kept him from returning to her despite her repeated attempts at pulling him into sin. Thomas could not live with the weight of the sin on his shoulders so he went to a priest to confess what was causing him anguish and repent for his sins. “Eventually God's grace intervened and remorse stung him; so he presented himself to a priest and took his healthy advice to do proper penance for his offence,” (Malmesbury, par. 2). The woman remarried a man named George years after her first husband had passed away. In time George found out about his new wife’s previous infidelity...
Holy Names students should read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, because it teaches students of the ideals of American society in the 1840s. In this novel, students will learn how people in society lived, how their religious system was structured, their senses of right and wrong, racism, and old forgotten traditions. Though this book is known to be controversial for its demeaning language and ideals, it should not be forgotten. Rather than letting the issues surrounding the book be ignored , they should become known. Students should be aware of the problems in history, not hidden from it.
The values and ethics in this novel are an importance to the family because it gives the children and adults a guideline and reminder on how to act and what they strive for. From an early childhood the children are taught to be well mannered and if you?re a female, you are taught to act like a lady. Papa also taught them about their religion from when the girls were babies .
Adam, a corporal officer, starts as man who works everyday to catch the ‘villains’ of society, but is not spending enough time with his family, especially his son. He favors his nine year old daughter over his fifteen year old son. Adam views his daughter as a sweet child, and his son as a stubborn teenager who is going through a rebellious stage. However, when his daughter is killed in an accident, his perspective of family changes. In his grief, he states that he wishes he had been a better father. His wife reminds him that he still is a father and he realizes that he still has a chance with his son, Dylan. After his Daughter’s death, he creates a resolution from scriptures that states how he will be a better father. Because of the resolution he creates, he opens up to and spends more time with his son. By th...