Charlotte O'Neil's Song from Passengers by Fiona Farrell Fiona Farrell wrote this poem as a result of events in the nineteenth century, where thousands of women escaped to New Zealand, away from their busy hardworking jobs to start new lives. Farrell used nineteenth-century ship records to discover the name, age and occupation of Charlotte O'Neil. The ship records showed that Charlotte O'Neil was a seventeen-year-old general servant travelling on the 'Isabella Hercus' in 1871. The poem has been formed from good use of imagination so that the reader can imagine what life was like for Charlotte O'Neil. The character, O'Neil in the poem is hardworking and seems to be always busy, for example, 'I polished your parquet floor, I scraped out your grate and I washed your plate and I scrubbed till my hands were raw' this shows that Charlotte O'Neil worked at the best standard that she possibly could. However, by the end of the poem she seems to have built up confidence and she makes it clear that she is fed up of working hard, like when she says 'you can bake your bread and make your bed and answer your own front door.' She states that she is never coming back by saying 'But now you're on your own, my dear. I won't be there anymore.' I think the purpose of this purpose is to show that servants have feelings and that they are not just people that should be ordered around. The poem states that servants should stand up to their 'masters' and have a more confident attitude, for example 'and you can open your own front door,' which would be a more confident way for a servant to leave a household. The poem suggests that Charlotte is not being treated well and that her life is very different to her master's, as the poem says 'you lay on a silken pillow, I lay on an attic cot.' This compares the rich and the poor and is just a small example of how different their life-styles were.
The novel’s use of contrast between East Egg, West Egg, and the Valley of Ashes begins to explore the differences between social classes. East Egg houses the most wealthy and aristocratic members of the nearby area. It contains many “white palaces” (Fitzgerald 10) that are quite “fashionable” (Fitzgerald 10). This description paints an image of purity and untouched standards of wealth that are translated into the book’s time period. Due to the pristineness of the village, the homes “[glitter] along the water,” (10) further supporting the idyllic qualities East Egg appears to have. West Egg, on the contrary, is home to people of near equal affluence, but of less social establishment. It is described by the narrator as “less fashionable,” (Fitzgerald
In the novel, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, we learn the story of a abused girl trying to survive the world that she was placed in. She never had any friends until she was in the sixth grade, when she met Eric. Eric was also an outcast because of his weight. The other kids call him Moby because he's on the swim team and that's their clever way of saying that he is like a whale. Sarah and Eric have been friends for six years and when she stops talking and is placed in a psych ward, he questions the situation right away. Eric visits her frequently to try and get her to talk. Sarah finds a way to tell Eric part of the reason why she hasn't been talking. She is trying her best to stay away from her abusive father. In this story, Eric is fighting his hardest for someone that doesn't want his help which makes the situation more difficult, but not impossible. As you follow the story of Sarah and her struggles, the theme will scream at you what real friendship is.
Avray’s porch in Seraph on the Suwanee is associated with a higher standard of living and is the envy of her visitors. At first, Avray is unsure about this new, “outside show of ownership.” (234) Avray is uncertain about her right to belong to this class of folk and as a result feels inner turmoil about whether or not she deserves such privilege. Her initial conflift with the porch mimics her desire to “[brace] herself to glory in her folks” despite her disgust with their old junk, cracked dishes, and shabby house. Over time, Avray found it easier to rejoice in the comforts of her new life. As she reclined further back into the chaise lounges and cushions of her class, her porch became a place of pride and courage. The use of the metaphor that describes the porch as a throne (and hence the porch-sitters as royalty) reinforces the idea of an elevated social status and its implied protection.
For my reading assignment I read “Car Trouble” by Jeanne Duprau. The story takes place in many cities in the United States. Some are real places like Richmond, Virginia, St. Louis, Missouri, and Los Angeles, California. The book also has some fictional towns like Sunville, New Mexico, a town built completely off of solar power and other natural resources. There are many more real and fake cities throughout the story, but the ones mentioned are the most written about and most important to the story.
Drifters by Bruce Dawe This poem is about a family that’s always on the move, with no place to settle down for long, hence the poem was titled ‘Drifters’ to describe this family. ‘Drifters’ looks at the members of this family response to frequently change and how it has affected them. This poem is told in third person narration in a conversational tone. This gives the feeling as if someone who knows this family is telling the responder the situation of this family.
As days go by she finds herself growing to dislike management noting how she is constantly up and about while those that supervise sit all day. She has to constantly be...
The biographic features of a writer usually have an influence on the development of his or her literary creation. The biographic influence is especially strong on the literary work of Flannery O'Connor. Her life and experiences are reflected through her work in themes, characters, descriptions and style. There are two important features of her life, which had marked the short stories and novels of Flannery O'Connor: The South of the United States and her religion, Catholicism. These two aspects are reflected in her vision of life, society and above all in the vision of the human race.
though he is moving away but at the same time he claims that he feels
if she wanted to make something of herself she would have to work many times
Lisa Genova, the author of Still Alice, a heartbreaking book about a 50-year-old woman's sudden diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, graduated valedictorian from Bates College with a degree in Biopsychology and holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University. She is a member of the Dementia Advocacy, Support Network International and Dementia USA and is an online columnist for the National Alzheimer's Association. Genova's work with Alzheimer's patients has given her an understanding of the disorder and its affect not only on the patient, but on their friends and family as well (Simon and Schuster, n.d.).
Straying away from life as a whole only to be alone, some may say is the strong way to heal themselves when dealing with extreme grief or a major crisis . In the book Wild, twenty-two year old Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost it all. Dealing with the loss of her mother, her family torn to pieces, and her very own marriage was being destroyed right before her very eyes. Living life with nothing more to lose, lifeless, she made the most life changing decision of her life. Strayed never seems remorseful on her decisions to up and leave everything behind while deciding to flee from it all. This being her way of dealing with life, it shows her as being strong; a woman of great strength and character. She shows personal strength, which is more than just a physical word. It is a word of very high value and can only be defined by searching deep within your very own soul.
Motivation provides the driving force for direction and persistence toward a defined goal. Beyoncé has a high need for achievement that motivates her to keep working on new material. In an interview with MTV Beyoncé said, “I am a workaholic and I don’t believe in no. I don’t believe in I need to sleep” (Lepore, 2011). She has earned many awards, honors, and accolades because of her determination to be one of the greatest performers. In the last five years, Beyoncé has used empowerment as an essential motivational key to continuously progress in her craft. In 2011, Beyoncé fired her manager of fifteen years and she began to take full responsibility for her creative and financial obligations. From this experience she has become self-determined and has a high influence on her career path (Lepore,
work and is about to get married. The only work she has done is when
The armchair in the story in which Mrs. Mallard sits after secluding herself in her room upon hearing of her husbands' death is described as "comfortable" and "roomy." The chairs' location is also important, it is facing an open window, this symbolizes being open to change, and the fact that it is open shows that it is somewhat warm out suggesting life rather than the cold of winter symbolizing death. The adjectives "comfortable,"" roomy," and "sank" symbolize a feeling of being embraced by the chair, a feeling of love and warmth.
In the Middle Ages houses of the poor and wealthy were often alike, except for the wealthy because they could occupy all their floors of the house. Their business would be on the first floor, living quarters on the second, and servant’s quarters on the third. If they family were poor they might have several families living under one roof, which makes the house very crowded (Gies, 243).