The Ways that Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay are Presented in Our Day Out by Willie Russell
Our Day out by Willie Russell is an energetic and humorous play, about
a school trip to Conwy castle. The 'progress class', a class for
illiterate children, are on a trip to Wales where the liberal Mrs Kay
and the strict Mr Briggs have completely different ideas about the day
should be organised.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mrs Kay and Mr Briggs have two distinct personalities that clash
frequently throughout the play and Willie Russell presents both in an
interesting and comical way in his drama.
Mrs Kay is a benevolent and fun teacher who treats the children as if
they were her own. 'She always reminds me of a mother hen rather than
a teacher'. Mr Briggs says this and it sums up exactly what Mrs Kay is
like and her attitude to the children.
Her aim on the school trip is for everyone to have fun with the only
rule being '...think of yourselves but also think of others'. She
genuinely cares for the children and wants them to have an enjoyable
day out to assuage the social injustice that they find themselves up
against.
Mr Briggs' ideology of the children is contrary to Mrs Kay's. Mr
Briggs is a strict, intolerant and old-fashioned teacher who is has
firm standards and is harsh towards the students. 'Stop! Slater,
walk…walk! You, boy…come here. Now stop. All of you…stop!' Mr Briggs
is shouting as the children get off the coach but Mrs Kay casually
walks past and pours out some coffee.
At the zoo, Mr Briggs lightens up a little and we get to see more of
the soft and loving side that he conceals in favour of the harsh and
angry one. He is enjoying himself when he explains about all of the
different animal types to the children, and in the café with Mrs Kay,
he even offers to do a small presentation at school with some slides.
'I didn't think the kids who came to you would be too interested in
“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker is about a mother with two daughters, Dee and Maggie. The mother and two daughters are very poor and are of different color than people surrounding them. Dee and Maggie are very opposite each other. Dee is pretty and is somewhat intelligent, she also had the privilege of going to school. Maggie is not so smart, and she is going to be getting married to an earnest face guy named John Thomas. The relationship that the narrator and Maggie have is very gentle, but also simple because their personalities are very much alike. In “Everyday Use”, Dee and the narrator would argue more than the narrator and Maggie. One of the arguments was about Dee taking the quilts, the narrator, “looked at her like that something hit
cant come al the way to the seaside and not go down to the beach.
An interesting thing about Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” is the fact that it seems to be told from the Mama’s eyes, rather than from one of the, arguably, main characters. This only allows the reader to see Mama’s bias in the entire situation. Because of this bias between her children, the reader can see the stark contrast of the two sisters. Alice tries to portray the importance of embracing heritage and the vulgarity of disregarding the purpose of things for one’s own pleasure.
Russell Baker, the author of Growing Up, grew up in Morrisville and the surrounding areas amongst his family (Baker, p. 36). In 1925, Baker’s mother and father, Betty and Benny, moved to a yellow farmhouse about one hundred yards from the home of his grandmother, Ida Rebecca. Baker’s family revolved around Ida, allowing all of them to be a part of Russell’s life in some shape or form (Baker, p. 42-4). During his infancy, both his mother and grandmother had a part in raising him. Through each of their distinct ideas on how to raise a child, Baker got the best of both worlds. Betty enforced safety and responsibility, providing Russell with a sturdy foundation to beco...
In the novel Babbitt, Sinclair Lewis touches upon various issues that characterize American society. Marriage was one of these various issues that Lewis focused on. In the story, George Babbitt was married and his best friend, Paul Riesling, was married. They both seemed uneasy about their marriages and were not pleased with their situations. George always seemed to care less for Myra, "she was as sexless as an anemic nun... no one, save [except] Tinka, was all interested in her or entirely aware that she was alive" (Lewis 7). Paul also truly disliked his wife Zilla, "why I want to kill her", " (i)f I only could [divorce her]! If she'd just give me the chance!" (Lewis 58-59). This lack of feeling for their wives is what Lewis focused on in the rest of the story.
In Alice Walker’s short story, “Everyday Use”, the narrator is the mother who is uneducated, but loving and hard working. Dee and Maggie are her daughters, whom she cares for deeply. Maggie, the youngest daughter, shares many outlooks on life the way her mother does. She has never been away from home and she and Mama are very close. She learned valuable traditions and their history from her family members. In contrast to Maggie, Dee is in college and couldn’t wait to leave home. She always had ambition and goals that she had set high. Mama’s relationship with Dee is not close, but she dreams of their bond rekindling. As she waits for Dee’s arrival, she thinks about TV shows where the “mother and child embrace” and then the “child tell how she would not have made it without her help” (Walker 155). Walker states, “I dream a dream in which Dee and I are suddenly brought together on a TV program of this sort” (155). Because of Mama and Maggie’s practical attitude, they have a very hard time understanding Dee. Since she was exposed to the world outside of their rural, southern town, she feels liberated through the knowledge she has acquired. While Maggie and Mama see the butter turner, the quilts, and the benches as common house items, Dee see them as “priceless” works of art. Dee feels she is more connected with African American heritage but, Maggie exemplifies what culture really is.
Mr Brockleurst is the head teacher of the school. He is another extremely religious figure that Jane comes across. He talks about the deadly sins Jane has commited, yet he does not see his own actions are far worse. Mr Brocklehurts is a harsh and dishonest man, forcing the school to live in squallid conditions, so he can support his own lavish lifestyle.
In "Chapter Two" of A Night to Remember, three characters, Mr. and Mrs. John Jacob Astor and Mrs. Arthur Ryerson, had two very similar reactions to the situation aboard the Titanic. "He (Mr. Astor) explained that the ship had struck a iceberg, but it didn't look serious. He was very calm and Mrs. Astor wasn't a bit alarmed" ( Lord, 12). This proves that Mr. and Mrs. John Jacob Astor weren't alarmed, perhaps because they believed that the ship was unsinkable, but then realized they had to get off the ship because it was going to sink. This passage also proves that Mr. and Mrs. John Jacob Astor and Mrs. Arthur Ryerson, fell for the believe that the ship was unsinkable. "The Titanic was considered unsinkable " (Lord, 22). Now Mrs. Ryerson has
When analyzing the 1950s, it is clear that racial segregation, strict sexual mores, oppressive women’s rights, and high materialism were considered normal. Interracial marriage and divorces were an abomination in this time period and there was a major issue with racism in the 50s. Additionally, women were held to a different standard than men, they were to maintain the home and rear children, it was thought to be their only purpose. Furthermore, homosexuality was believed to be a sickness that could be cured, it was forbidden by society to be a homosexual. The 1960s counter-culture was all about rallying against these. This paper argues that despite the values of the 1950’s that the counterculture sought to reject, issues under the surface
“Everyday Use” Alice Walker The story starts with the storyteller hanging out in her yard, sitting tight for her girl Dee who's coming to visit. Despite the fact that we've quite recently met the woman, we climb ideal inside her head and begin watching one of her dreams. Actually, no not that sort of imagination. She's simply envisioning what it resembles to rejoin with Dee on a TV syndicated program. We additionally meet and take in somewhat about the storyteller's other little girl, Maggie, a timid child with smolder scars on her body. All through the story, the sisters differences get to be obvious through their identities, physical characteristics, and the way they feel about their legacy.
“What a naïve girl. All she wants to be is to be happy. She really doesn’t know anything about life, yet.” As most people will think, they see her being so innocent, being so immature.
I grew up next to two lovely neighbors who loved me unconditionally. Being named “Dannie Smith” and “Curtis Smith”, one could assume that they were your regular, everyday old couple. They would be absolutely correct. Although she obtained an aggressively sassy attitude, Mrs. Dannie had a good heart. Mr. Curtis, her handsome, funny husband, accompanied her. Though these
She described her job description as getting to do something wonderful that she gets to teach a wonderful group of kids. She teaches reading, language arts, math, science and history. In their classrooms they have what is called a co-teacher. Because there are so many children with such major disabilities; for example, ADHD, autism, and even psychosis. She plans with her co-teacher in writing lessons, communicating with parents, adapting
Peter and Clarissa’s memories of the days spent at Bourton have a profound effect on them both and are still very much a part of them. These images of their younger selves are not broad, all-encompassing mental pictures, but rather the bits and pieces of life that create personality and identity. Peter remembers various idiosyncracies about Clarissa, and she does the same about him. They remember each other by “the colours, salts, tones of existence,” the very essence that makes human beings original and unique: the fabric of their true identities (30). Clarissa Dalloway is content with her life with Richard, is content to give her party on a beautiful June evening, but she does regret at times that she can’t “have her life over again” (10).
Tuesdays with Morrie, written by Mitch Albom, is a story of the love between a man and his college professor, Morrie Schwartz. This true story captures the compassion and wisdom of a man who only knew good in his heart and lived his life to the fullest up until the very last breath of his happily fulfilled life. When Mitch learned of Morrie’s illness, the began the last class of Morrie’s life together and together tried to uncover “The Meaning of Life.” These meetings included discussions on everything from the world when you enter it to the world when you say goodbye. Morrie Schwartz was a man of great wisdom who loved and enjoyed to see and experience simplicity in life, something beyond life’s most challenging and unanswered mysteries. Morrie was a one of a kind teacher who taught Mitch about the most important thing anyone can ever learn: life. He taught Mitch about his culture, about trust, and perhaps most importantly, about how to live.