Tension (Noun): Tension is a mental or emotional strain caused by something that typically induces anxiety, stress, or pressure. Oftentimes, throughout one’s life, one finds that when one is in a specific situation, tension occurs internally, and sometimes even externally, between two people. Similarly, in Diana Lopez’s novel, Confetti Girl and Jennifer Cervantes’ novel, Tortilla Sun, the narrators have different points of view than that of their parents, causing tension. For example, in Diana Lopez’s Confetti Girl, the narrator does not like English at all, but because her Father does, she finds that at home, her Father is always asking her about her English class and how she is doing in the class; since her Father is so involved in the subject …show more content…
In this novel, the narrator and her father live alone, giving her the responsibility to complete most of the household chores without her mother around. Her Father is an English teacher, and one day, at dinner, he asks her about her English class, saying, “Any new vocabulary words?” (Lopez 14). The narrator is in no way fond of English, and responds in a uncaring manner, claiming that she “guesses” that she has some new vocabulary words, but does not remember them; she only knows that one starts with the prefix, super. Her father begins throwing potential vocabulary words at her, but she brushes them off using a sarcastic response. Her Father ignores this and reminds her that the prefix, super, means above and beyond, and that by breaking a word down, you can easily identify the meaning. The narrator says “okay” and quickly changes the subject. However, the Father catches on and asks if she is reading any books in class. The narrator begins to get bored with the topic and tries to hint at this, “I sigh, bored, but he doesn’t get the hint,” (Lopez 22), but he does not understand, so she responds with a yes and claims that she does not know the book’s title, but only that it has a rabbit on the cover. The Father knows immediately that it is Watership Down. She says that she left the book in her locker and can’t do her homework, but her Father …show more content…
For instance, in this novel excerpt, Izzy’s mother announces that she is going on a trip to complete her research. For this reason, Izzy has to stay in New Mexico with her Nana, whom she calls “a stranger.” It is clear that Izzy does not want to stay with her Nana for the entire summer, so she persists, asking her mother if there is a chance that she could go with her on her trip for her research, but her mother says no, claiming that she already has the ticket and is leaving Monday. Determined not to go to New Mexico, Izzy then questions why she can’t just stay home alone. Nonetheless, the Mother responds with a no full of finality. At this moment, Izzy begins getting upset with her mother, saying, “I swallowed hard and tried not to cry,” (Lopez 29). Despite knowing there was no chance of her winning the argument, Izzy continues to attempt to convince her mom to allow her to stay home. She says that she has plans for the summer to meet some girls before school begins so she is not alone. This is another thing that Izzy and her mother view differently; Izzy’s mother wants Izzy to make friends, but Izzy does not understand why this is necessary considering that she will most-likely move in only a few months. Izzy’s
The plot of this book begins with the fact that Canadian girl named Laura finds out that her father is a humble pensioner, a former teacher, committed suicide from the bridge, during
Conflict between the main characters in fictional stories can be so thick, you need a razor-sharp knife to cut it; that is definitely the case in the two literary texts I recently analyzed titled “Confetti Girl” by Diana Lopez and “Tortilla Sun” by Jennifer Cervantes. In the first text, tensions mount when a social butterfly of a teenage girl and her oblivious father lock horns over the subject of homework. In the second passage, drama runs high when a lonely child and her career-driven mother battle over the concept of spending the summer apart. Unfortunately, by the end of both excerpts, the relationships of these characters seem damaged beyond repair due to their differing points of view - the children end up locked behind their barrier-like
What does it mean to be “inappropriately female” and what are the consequences for Daphne? To understand how being “inappropriately female” was coded in Daphne Scholinski’s The Last Time I Wore A Dress we have to understand when this was happening. In the early 80’s when Scholinski was growing up acts of sexual and gender nonconformity were not seen as acceptable ways of identifying. Laws surrounding criminalization of gender identification and sexual orientation were just beginning to be changed and public opinion on the matter was still catching up. Daphne’s nonconformity came from all directions. She’d always been a tomboy growing up, played sports, hung out with the guys, and didn’t behave. She wasn’t the calm, quiet, or followed the rules.
The proliferation of crises around the world has led to a prominent increase in the amount of humanitarian aid needed. Humanitarian aid work represents not only compassion, but commitment to support innocent populations that have experienced sudden or on-going tragedies. Some of these tragedies include: malnutrition, genocide, diseases, torture, poverty, war, natural disasters, government negligence, and unfortunately much more. There is no doubt that these tragedies are some of the world’s toughest problems to solve as they are often complex, multifaceted and require diligence and patience. For this reason, being a humanitarian aid worker is more than a profession, it is a lifestyle that requires a sharp distinction between one’s work and
Aligning with Anna Comnena’s overall bias, the details in The Alexiad harbor a great deal of disdain for crusaders. The East versus West mentality is evident in the narrative through Comnena’s description of the Crusaders. She uses the names “Celt” and “Norman()” as derogatory describing the Crusaders as uncultured and “riotous().” With Byzantine bias she singles out the Normans especially with respect to Nicea where they “behaved the most cruelly to all (251).” Alexius, himself is written to fear their “unstable and mobile character (248)” which reiterates battles against Normans earlier in his life.
As the passage of time continues inventions and traditions come and go, and with them the feelings and memories of those around them. Some of these people will let go willingly, because they had nothing special about them, and they are quickly forgotten. Others, however, hold significance to the societies of their time. In Dearly Disconnected, author Ian Frazier shows the more physical side of this, how old pay phones hold sentimental value to him, and probably to many others in the city. On the other hand,Defining a Doctor, with a Tear, a Shrug, and a Schedule by Abigail Zuger shows the difference between two doctors, one with modern values and one with traditional values, and how ideas and cultures are hard to let go. In both of the essays,
Deborah Tannen’s essay, “There Is No Unmarked Woman”, explores the idea of “marked” and “unmarked” words, styles, titles, and how females have no ability to choose an unmarked position. She also posits that “The unmarked forms of most English words also convey ‘male’” (88). Tannen is incorrect in her premise because females are able to choose unmarked hair and clothing styles, many unmarked forms of words no longer convey “male,” and men are marked just as often as women.
As a child, Judy had a large imagination; and loved to play. Judy always had an adoration of books; she relished the texture, scent, and everything about them. There was one thing though, Judy wanted a book about a child that she could relate to. When Judy was about ten years old, she had to leave her New Jersey home for Miami, Florida, along with her Mother, Nanny Mama, and David. They were going to Florida for the winter because the cold weather in New Jersey was bad for David's health. Doey had to stay in New Jersey to manage his dentist office. Judy wasn't so sure about Miami, plus she was worried about her father because he was forty-two and all of his older brothers had died at that very age. At first Judy wasn't so sure about living in Miami, it was so different. Judy soon made friends with a few girls that lived in the same apartment building as her. They did everything together. They hung out at the beach, did ballet lessons, and went to the same school. Judy left Miami and went back to New Jersey for the summer. The n...
	"It mattered that education was changing me. It never ceased to matter. My brother and sisters would giggle at our mother’s mispronounced words. They’d correct her gently. My mother laughed girlishly one night, trying not to pronounce sheep as ship. From a distance I listened sullenly. From that distance, pretending not to notice on another occasion, I saw my father looking at the title pages of my library books. That was the scene on my mind when I walked home with a fourth-grade companion and heard him say that his parents read to him every night. (A strange sounding book-Winnie the Pooh.) Immediately, I wanted to know, what is it like?" My companion, however, thought I wanted to know about the plot of the book. Another day, my mother surprised me by asking for a "nice" book to read. "Something not too hard you think I might like." Carefully I chose one, Willa Cather’s My ‘Antonia. But when, several weeks later, I happened to see it next to her bed unread except for the first few pages, I was furious and suddenly wanted to cry. I grabbed up the book and took it back to my room and placed it in its place, alphabetically on my shelf." (p.626-627)
Memory is both a blessing and a curse; it serves as a reminder of everything, and its meaning is based upon interpretation. In Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies Dedé lives through the memory of her family and her past. She tells the stories of her and her sisters lives leading up to their deaths, and reflects upon those memories throughout her daily life. Dedé lives on for her sisters, without her sisters, but all along carrying them with her throughout her life, never moving on. Dedé lives with the shame, sadness, and regret of all that has happened to her sisters, her marriage, and her family. Dedé’s memories serve as a blessing in her eyes, but are a burden
Lafayette uses signs, which are motives, throughout her novel La Princesse de Clèves. She uses the dialogue between the husband and the Princess Mme. de Clèves to show the motive of passion. She also uses Mme. de Clèves to show her way of expressing toward the situation that the Princess has. Fabricated letter is also used in her novel to represent the signs of taking over the Princess’s feelings. In her novel, she utilizes characters For this essay, I would like to explore the structure of her novel through signs, as shown in Dalia Judovitz’s article The Aesthetics of Implausibility: La Princesse de Cléves.
Norton, D. E., & Norton. S. (2011). Through The Eyes Of a Child. An Introduction To Children’s Literature. Boston, MA, 02116: Eight-Edition Pearson Education
the right words: This book features easy to read writing, with a few advanced words for emerging readers to be able to stretch their comprehension. It rhymes, has humour, has a fantastic pace to the story and allows a great scope to personalize the story with vocal changes and intonation when reading it aloud.
It sometimes is quite difficult to find one’s voice when no one is truly listening or understands. Yolanda, or "Yo", a Dominican immigrant, has grown up to be a writer and in the process infuriates her entire family by publishing the intimate details of their lives as fiction. “¡Yo!” is an exploration of a woman's soul, a meditation on the writing life, as well as a lyrical account of Latino immigrants’ search for identity and a place in the United States. Julia Alvarez divides her novel ¡Yo! into chapters to distinguish the perspectives of each member of the Garcia family. Through the stylistic, subtle homage to the Spanish language as well as speaking on the horrors that occurred during the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic, Julia Alvarez showcases storytelling in the first chapter of her novel titled “From ¡Yo! The Mother” to show how Yo and her entire family used it to cope with their struggles as immigrants in America. By telling stories, Yo’s mother Laura, battles between her Dominican and American identities to ultimately redefine not only who she is, but also who she and her family will be.
First, stress is defined as an unpleasant state of emotional and physiological arousal that people experience in situations that they perceive as dangerous or threatening to their well being (Patel, 14). Stress is a universal feeling to everyone but the word stress means different things to different people. Some people define stress as events or situations that cause them to feel tension, pressure or negative emotions such as anxiety or anger (Patel, 15). Other people may view stress as a process involving a person’s interpretation and response to a threatening event. In any case, stress has many facets of how one perceives and responds to the certain predicament that is ailing them.