"They were hard-edged, soft-centered, brutally demanding, and easily pleased, these women of Brewster Place" (Naylor 5). This is how Gloria Naylor describes the main characters of her novel, The Women of Brewster Place. Each woman's story is unique but also intertwines with the lives of each of the other women mentioned in the book. Their tales contain tragedy, hope, love, courage, strength and a whole slew of other emotions. Reading about these people brought me back to my summers at home in Minnesota. Not because I grew up in the projects or dealt with the kinds of things that these women did, but because my summer was spent playing the game I love with people who were much less fortunate than I. These guys were my teammates, my close friends, and between the months of May and September, they were like brothers to me.
I confidently strolled into Holy Angels High School gym last March. It was the end of my high school basketball career, but the summer Amateur Athletic Union season was just beginning. This would be my fourth year trying out for the Howard Pulley Panthers basketball program. Each age group had a first and second team, and we were the top two teams in the state of Minnesota each summer. We then traveled to some of the most prestigious basketball tournaments in the country. The past three summers I had made the first team once and was placed on the second team for two years. I was pretty sure there was a spot for me on one of the seventeen and under teams, and I was fortunate enough to be put on the first team for this year. Most of the kids on the team I had played with during previous summers, but there were a few guys I would be meeting for the first time. Our team was diversified, to say the least; we ranged in height from 5'10 to 6'9, we were black, mixed-race, and white; some of us were from the suburbs, some lived in the slums of Minneapolis and St Paul; but above all, once we stepped on a basketball court we became one cohesive unit.
Basketball was to my teammates and me as Brewster Place was to the women in Naylor's story. No matter how different our lives and backgrounds were, we came together and had a profound impact on each other's lives during the summer.
Most student-athletes grow up as very innocent lads bedecked with tremendous talents and become very promising in sports. Thus, they become rays of hope for their families, neighborhoods, and schools yet to be determined. Like the lamb in William Blake’s poem The Lamb, they are fed “by the stream & o’er the mead; gave…clothing of delight, softest clothing, wooly, bright…making all the vales rejoice.” (Smith 24) Then they are exposed to the life of hard work in which only the fittest survives. This makes them ready for the different challenges in the sports scene.
In The Women of Brewster Place, Naylor's allusions to Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream reinterpret the bard to depict the plight of African-American women. Naylor incorporates themes of A Midsummer Night's Dream into the life of Cora Lee, a resident of the Brewster Place housing project. Cora Lee, whose existence is dominated by the responsibilities and demands of raising her children, escapes into the vacuousness of television soap operas. However, Cora Lee's lifestyle is temporarily modified when she is invited to attend a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. According to Peter Erickson, the play "...inspires in Cora Lee...
When I arrived at my new and enormous high school, I got lost. It was June, and since classes had just ended for the day, large crowds of kids filled up the hallways, and I got bumped around like I did not exist. Thankfully, a cheerleader saw me and figured that I had come there for tryouts since I wore shorts, cheer shoes and a big bow in my hair. She took me to the gym where at least sixty girls had shown up for the competition. The first things I saw were cheerleaders doing high level tumbling on the gym floor with no fear. The upperclassmen led us in warm-ups, and they seemed nice. A lot of the girls I met had been cheering since they were five and six years old. I saw a lot of talent in the room, so I knew it would not be easy to
...as Mary Ann in the novel show that women can do so much more than sew and cook. Without women, all wars would have been a lot harder. Although men tend to keep a macho facade in order to calm others (such as the women in their lives), inside they may be like glass, easy to break. A society set on the ideal stoic, fearless warrior who acts ruthlessly and saves the damsel in distress (also showing that women are weak) obviously is one where doomed to sexism. Without the comfort and inspiration, men would have deteriorated in the face of death. All and all, women provided the needed comfort, nursing, “manpower”, and love that the soldiers of Vietnam need, something that helped them endure the havoc of war. O’Brien’s expert use of the feminist lens allows the reader to know that women indeed were a powerhouse in the Vietnam war, without whom, men would have perished.
This past fall I tried out for the varsity basketball team at my high school. I had played both on the freshman team and then last year on the junior varsity team. Playing on the varsity team is all I’ve wanted to do. I’d practiced all summer and in September and October to get ready for the try-outs at the beginning of November. Unfortunately I did not make the team. It was a huge blow for me because I had worked really hard and had expected to make it. Thankfully my moms and my friends were there to remind me that there were other paths to pursue my dreams. I could have easily been bitter and decided to stop caring, but they wouldn’t let me. I was humbled by this experience and decided to turn it into a positive. I’ve since decided to join the Wilson Live club at school. It’s a group that films and commentates sports events at school. This connects to a possible major that I’m interested in when I go to college--communications or sports
Malcolm X once said, “There is no better than adversity. Every defeat; every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time.” I stared closely at the scoreboard, watching the seconds count down. I grasped that I would not be playing in this game or the next, or the one following that. This season would be a learning experience, an experience that would strengthen my mind and spirit. My first year on varsity soccer was truly a challenge. I struggled for the first time in my soccer career and faced many difficult obstacles, along the way. The season began, and I was immediately labeled as a “reserve” player. I was a bench warmer and a useless substitute, who had minimal playing time.
There is a sense that the women have been thrust into an environment that is not complimentary to their quality. Rosa Coldfield is “strong with forty-three years of hate,” against a world that has wronged her (the world of the South) with its male insistence that “if you haven’t got honor and pride, then nothing matters” (Faulkner 279). What Rosa has is emotion, true reaction, feelings, instinct. In the realm of the South, the instinct of emotion and truth is something that runs behind honor and pride, its presence fully realized and known but not given credibility over hierarchy: “Only there is something in you that doesn’t care about honor and pride yet that lives, that even walks backward for a whole year just to live” (279). The inner struggle of the South sets forth a destructive trap that derives from the arbitrarily enforced systems of male creation, especially honor and pride, that are not only based in domination but also in a false sense of hierarchy.
The reason for this book appealing to such a broad audience lies in all the characters’ personalities. Mrs. March is a strong, independent woman who never falters, therefore she relates to all independent women; but she is also a mother who plants strong values in her girls and is the rock foundation of the family, with that she relates to all mothers. Margaret’s desire for luxury is a desire that we all can relate to and her properness is a trait most girls can relate to. Jo’s mischievous demeanor and talent for writing is something that if one cannot relate, admire to have. Beth is the insecure, sweet, homebody in all of us. Amy represents the beauty and talent, and sometimes moral code, which all women have. Laurie represents all the men that wish to be loved any uncommon-but-beautiful woman.
I figured that I had grown about five inches since my freshman year and had gotten stronger it might be time to play basketball competitively once more. When November rolled around I was on the varsity team, but unfortunately my basketball skills was not up to par. It was tough at first, because I was a new face on the team, and the guys on the team had a great chemistry that they had built up throughout the years. After a few weeks had rolled by, I realized that I would not be in the rotation.I told myself that the team’s success is more important than my personal desired statistics.I decided to make the most of my role on the team. It was a tradition for the guys who were not in the rotation to contribute to the game in some way, guys did this by preforming stunts after significant plays and momentum shifts in the game in our favor. This was great because the crowd loved and it and more importantly my teammates fed off of the
I have loved my years here at NHS. One NHS instance that has influenced my life happened to take place in Lincoln, Nebraska. This moment changed me and truly shaped me into the person I am today. Sports is a huge part of my life so it was fitting that a basketball game provided a turning point in my life.
Finally, it was about to be my senior year. My school hired a new coach, which meant a clean slate for every player – including myself. Doubt overwhelmed me instantly, wondering whether I should even attempt coming back after taking off for three years. When I showed up to the first weightlifting in the winter, every girl shot dirty looks at me. None of them had to speak for me to know what they were thinking. “Why is she here? She thinks she’s good enough to come in for one year and play? I hate senior walk-ons.” The intimidation from the other girls was just as wearisome as the discouragement from
The story Little Women takes place at a time when women were taking on uncustomary roles like physical laborer, family protector and provider, and military volunteer while their husbands served during the Civil War. Keeping within the boundaries of the time, Louisa May Alcott uses herself and her own three sisters to create this classical novel from personal experiences. Each sister is different. They each set goals and dreams for their selves whether it goes along with their contemporary society or not. With the assistance of their mother, friends and experiences, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy struggle between their personal expectations and society’s expectations as they plan for their future and choose their destinies.
It was July 23, 2015, a day I’d always remember. At this time I had committed my time primarily to basketball and had become a really successful point guard. I was finally finding myself on the court and had worked hard to earn my spot as our captain. We had won both of our previous games, sending us straight to the championship bracket. I knew this was our game to win. After mentally preparing myself, it was time to start the game. This is it, everything I’ve worked so hard for was now coming into motion. I walked out onto the court with pure confidence in myself. We won the tip off and the ball was in my hands. My body flying down the court, I was truly unstoppable. In this lasting moment, I felt I had reached a new level of skill, and had never felt so confident. We were dominating the team and had a steady lead. Little did I know my favorite sport, my outlet for life and my passion was
As I walked onto the volleyball court, I noticed people were screaming and cheering all around me. They were all around me, and yet they all sounded strangely distant. I was nervous. I was worried that we might lose, but worst of all, I was worried that I might end up letting my teammates down. Negative thoughts continued filled my head and I drew closer and closer to my position. Once again, I found myself asking whether or not I truly belonged on this team. Now, this certainly was not the first time I questioned my place on the team, but little did I know that it would be the last.
Basketball is one of the interesting sports I have always wanted to engage myself even as a little child. It was a dream come true when I started playing basketball in my high school. Moreover, I was very good in it, and I became the team leader. Of course, I enjoyed every bite of the time I spent playing basketball. My participation in basketball, has had numerous effects on my life, and these are physical, personal and social.