Dicey Tillermans world is flipped upside down when her mother leaves her and her siblings all alone in car in a mall parking lot. Homecoming tells the story of the four Tillerman children surviving on their own on a hundred mile journey to find their next home. They overcome fear and rejection to try and find a person who is willing to take them in under their wing. Finding out that their Great Aunt has passed away they decide to move on to connect with their long lost grandmother. On their way, they find out more about themselves and who their family really is. Protagonist Dicey has to step up and take the place of her mother and care for James, Sammy, and Maybeth all by herself. In Cynthia Voigt’s Homecoming, Dicey is able to lead her siblings by stepping up into leadership, making tough choices, and prioritizing tasks. …show more content…
[and] mind what Dicey tells [them]” (3). Now that DIcey knows she’s in charge, she is responsible for all of the kids and that she needs to lead by example. This sudden event leaves her younger siblings confused, but since she's in charge she doesn't want to startle them so she assures them that “ if [momma] isn’t back by morning [they] [will] go on go Bridgeport” (10) even though Dicey herself knows her mom might not be back. Once they begin the journey Dicey is very responsible making sure they get food and stick together. Throught the events in this book Dicey starts to show the reader that she is very calm. She does not have a break down instead she realizes she needs to do something and get her and her family to safety. Dicey knows if she goes to police there is a possibility her family will be separated. Being thirteen years old and taking care of three kids is tough, and Dicey Tillerman was able to do that while showing she could be a leader, be responsible, and not be selfish. She always put her siblings first and that is what a good leader
The Orphan Train is a compelling story about a young girl, Molly Ayer, and an older woman, Vivian Daly. These two live two completely different yet similar lives. This book goes back and forth between the point of views of Molly and Vivian. Molly is seventeen and lives with her foster parents, Ralph and Dina, in Spruce Harbor, Maine. Vivian is a ninety-one year old widow from Ireland who moved to the United States at a young age. Molly soon gets into trouble with the law and has to do community service. Molly’s boyfriend, Jack, gets his mom to get her some service to do. Jack’s mom allows her to help Vivian clean out her attic. While Molly is getting her hours completed, Vivian explains her past to her. Vivian tells her about all the good times and bad in her life. She tells her about how she had to take a train, the orphan train, all around the country after her family died in a fire. She told her about all the families she stayed with and all the friends she made along the way, especially about Dutchy. Dutchy is a boy she met on the orphan train and lost contact with for numerous years, but then found each other again and got married and pregnant. Sadly, Dutchy died when he was away in the army shortly after Vivian got pregnant. When Vivian had her child, she decided to give her up for adoption. Molly and Vivian grew very close throughout the time they spent together. Molly knows that Dina, her foster mother, is not very fond of her and tells her to leave. Having no place to go, Vivian let her stay at her house.
In the book, Mattie starts out as a lazy teenager who needs to be told what to do by her over controlling mother, but throughout the story, she becomes more responsible and adult-like. For example, at the start of their adventure, Mattie leaves P...
When the governess first arrives at the small town of Bly to begin her assignment over the niece and nephew of her employer, she describes her self as having gone through many ups and downs in terms of her emotional and possibly mental state. She says, "I remember the whole thing as a succession of flights and drops a little see saw of write throbs and the wrong" (page 121). It appears evident even from the beginning of the story that the governess is not in an 'even keeled' state of mind, neither stable nor calm enough to hand the task set before her in any means.
The characters in this story are some very interesting people. They each lead their own way of life, and have their own interests at heart. Some of the main characters in this novel are: Sarny, Lucy, Miss Laura, Bartlett, Stanley, and Sarny's two children Little Delie, and Tyler. Sarny is the central character in this book. She is clever and knows exactly what to even in the worst of times. She is very emotional though, and can break down and cry when the slightest of things happens. This is perhaps from what she has experienced as a slave earlier on in her life. Sarny is fond of teaching people, as a friend named Nightjohn once taught her. Lucy is Sarny's close friend. She is also quite wise, but is a bit too optimistic at times. She never stops smiling and is very friendly. However, she does help Sarny find her lost children. Miss Laura is a middle-aged woman who lives a very luxurious life. She gives Sarny and Lucy a place to live and offers them employment. She also finds Sarny's children for her. Bartlett works for Miss Laura as well. He is a quiet and patient man who is helpful and quite kind. He was however castrated as a young slave boy, and cannot have children. Stanley is Sarny's second husband, for her first died from being worked to death on the plantation. Stanley is a gentle, big, fun-loving man, but is not intimidated by anything. This leads him to his death when he gets mad at a white man, and is confronted by the Ku Klux Klan. Little Delie and Tyler are Sarny's lost children. After she recovers them, and they grow up, Little Delie starts to like business, while Tyler wants to become a doctor.
Calloway to her mother’s nonchalance, around Mrs. Calloway because Welty’s mother “was not afraid of Mrs. Calloway”. This creates a contrast between Welty and her mother to later help readers understand why wealthy’s mother told her she was “too impressionable”. Welty uses the contrast as a bridge to her acceptance of Mrs. Calloway because Seeing her mother’s nonchalance around Mrs. Calloway influenced or made an “impression” on Welty to see Mrs. Calloway as a protector of the books because Mrs. Calloway’s rules that “you could not take back a book to the library on the same day” and “you could take out two books at a time. This shows that Mrs. Calloway’s job was not to scare people away but instead to protect her books. Similar to the end of the movie “how to train a dragon” when the Hiccup the 15-year-old dragon trainer influences the rest of the Vikings in his village to accept the dragons and at the end the lived in harmony. The Acceptance of Mrs. Calloway shows Welty’s drive to read because “the only fear was that of books coming to an end “and not Mrs. Calloway anymore. The harmony created between Welty and Mrs. Calloway shows Welty’s Passion and drive to read, and encouraged her to take in consideration different perspectives, and understanding different perspectives is a crucial skill on becoming a good
Janie’s character undergoes a major change after Joe’s death. She has freedom. While the town goes to watch a ball game Janie meets Tea Cake. Tea Cake teaches Janie how to play checkers, hunt, and fish. That made Janie happy. “Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was even nice. She looked him over and got little thrills from every one of his good points” (Hurston 96). Tea Cake gave her the comfort of feeling wanted. Janie realizes Tea Cake’s difference from her prior relationships because he wants her to become happy and cares about what she likes to do. Janie tells Pheoby about moving away with Tea Cake and Pheoby tells her that people disapprove of the way she behaves right after the death of her husband. Janie says she controls her life and it has become time for her to live it her way. “Dis ain’t no business proposition, and no race after property and titles. Dis is uh love game. Ah done lived Grandma’s way, now Ah means tuh live mine” (Hurston 114). Janie becomes stronger as she dates Tea Cake because she no longer does for everyone else. Janie and Tea Cake decided to move to the Everglades, the muck. One afternoon, a hurricane came. The hurricane symbolizes disaster and another change in Janie’s life. “Capricious but impersonal, it is a concrete example of the destructive power found in nature. Janie, Tea Cake, and their friends can only look on in terror as the hurricane destroys the
...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.
The Curtis family is a very poor family ‘on the other side of town’ as a result of their father never having finished fifth grade and never being able to hold a job for more than a month at a time. The father, Ed, is a scruffy looking man, overbearing and built, and whose son, Darry,
1) Our quester(s): two seventeen-year-old, broken teenagers. Theodore Finch, a bipolar boy that thinks about his death 24/7 but doesn’t want to die, and Violet Markey, a misunderstood popular girl
The thought of her brothers still being in her former home environment in Maine hurt her. She tried to think of a way to get at least one of her brothers, the sickly one, to come and be with her. She knew that her extended family was financially able to take in another child, and if she showed responsibility, there would be no problem (Wilson, 40). She found a vacant store, furnished it, and turned it into a school for children (Thinkquest, 5). At the age of seventeen, her grandmother sent her a correspondence, and requested her to come back to Boston with her brother (Thinkquest, 6).
The main protagonist of the film, Scotty Smalls, is introduced as a straight-A, friendless young boy who has just moved into a new neighborhood in new state. While
The character Dicey Tillerman is a character who is extremely resourceful, she proves this by facing problems everyday and finding new ways to resolve with the limited amount she has. One example of this is when she only had 25¢ and she lost her map which cost 50¢ at the store she was in so she had to wash a window in order to pay for the map she got 25 extra cents for the work she did. She then used the
To start off Melinda is a freshman. The first year of high school. High school is tough, but it becomes extremely tough due to the fact of her having no friends. Plus home is not any
In Crow Lake, Mary Lawson portrays a family who experience a great tragedy when Mr. and Mrs. Morrison are killed in a car accident. This tragedy changes the lifestyles of the seven years old protagonist Kate Morrison and her siblings Matt, Luke and Bo. The settings are very important in this novel. Though there are limited numbers of settings, the settings used are highly effective. Without effective use of themes in this novel, the reader would not have been able to connect with the characters and be sympathetic. Lawson uses an exceptionally high degree of literary devices to develop each character in this novel.
Haley Daley is a popular girl. She cares about herself only, and only helps the others escape if it helps her more.