In an excerpt of The Street, Ann Petry illustrates Lutie Johnson's determination against the formidable wind and offers a perspective that sheds light on its underestimated consequences. Through personification and selection of detail, the narrator effectively characterizes the wind and its unrelenting "fingers" as an unwelcoming and obtrusive force that is capable of uncovering society's filth.
By initially introducing the November wind as a personified figure, the narrator sets up the cold gust as the text's primary antagonist. With its "violent assault," the wind renders the streets unappealing to pedestrians and even "finger[s] its way along the curb" to throw paper remnants into the faces of those who dare to combat the swirling wind's hurricane of trash. In the third paragraph, the wind amasses even more strength and becomes increasingly aggressive and villainous in its attempt to "discourage the people" from trekking across the streets. Here, it has taken another step forward to ensure that nothing passes through its barriers unaffected; it retaliates against the people by att...
The author illustrates the “dim, rundown apartment complex,” she walks in, hand and hand with her girlfriend. Using the terms “dim,” and “rundown” portrays the apartment complex as an unsafe, unclean environment; such an environment augments the violence the author anticipates. Continuing to develop a perilous backdrop for the narrative, the author describes the night sky “as the perfect glow that surrounded [them] moments before faded into dark blues and blacks, silently watching.” Descriptions of the dark, watching sky expand upon the eerie setting of the apartment complex by using personification to give the sky a looming, ominous quality. Such a foreboding sky, as well as the dingy apartment complex portrayed by the author, amplify the narrator’s fear of violence due to her sexuality and drive her terror throughout the climax of the
Joan Didion’s description of various experiences with the Santa Ana winds conveys her message through various rhetorical strategies. Early in the essay the feeling of worry and anxiety is introduced by the use of words such as “uneasy” , “unnatural stillness” , and “tension”. Because the emotion is described early on the audience can grasp this feeling those who live and Santa Ana are experiencing. This feeling causes people to act abnormal, even when they have no awareness it is coming. Additionally the suspenseful emotion continues through the use of imagery, to convey the unusual effect the winds have on the atmosphere. Didion describes the sky, having a “yellow cast” and screaming peacocks in “the olive trees… by the eerie absence of surf”.
The main character of "The Street" is strong and determined and acquiring what she needs. This is seen when she says; "if it said two-why, there wasn't any point," (Petry 3). This is proof of her determination/persistence, because she needs exactly what she needs anything less won't work. Next, we see that because of her persistence, she is given a chance to overcome her obstacle which in this case is the wind. This is shown with this quote; "The wind held it still for an instant in front of her," (Petry 3). Finally, we see that the setting plays a part in her struggle. This is shown in this quote; "There was a cold November wind," (Petry 1). This quote does well to illustrate the setting, as well as allude to the fact that because it is a cold wind it will be that much more troublesome to face. Between the struggle of facing the cold wind and her actions, once again the theme is
The vicious cycle created by the code of streets that Elijah Anderson discusses is never ending. Anderson brings up many different factors in the cycle that keep it going, only inhancing crime. Every example the author brought up were actions used to gain respect in the streets. Kids are raised around the violence and are then encouraged by their parents to keep the cycle going. The kids are taught to defend themselves and always win the fight. They have to win fights, be violent and act tough to gain respect. Their accomplishments in violence hold their respect status in the streets. Learning to fight like this and continue the violence cycle then gives people on the streets low tolerance. They are easy to lash out. All of these examples
Eden Robinson’s short story “Terminal Avenue” presents readers with the dystopian near-future of Canada where Indigenous people are subjugated and placed under heavy surveillance. The story’s narrator, Wil, is a young Aboriginal man who struggles with his own inner-turmoil after the suicide of his father and his brother’s subsequent decision to join the ranks of the Peace Officers responsible for “adjusting” the First Nations people. Though “Terminal Avenue” takes place in Vancouver there are clear parallels drawn between the Peace Officers of Robinson’s imagination and the Canadian military sent to enforce the peace during the stand-off at Oka, Quebec in 1990. In writing “Terminal Avenue” Robinson addresses the armed conflict and proposes
During the course of this work, many ideas and themes are portrayed and readers are able to view subjects that surround the main topic of racial injustice and intolerance. With the three main narrators, Minny Jackson, Aibileen Clark, and Skeeter Phelan, the audience quickly gains an insight on how racial inequalities affected everyone. These thoughts help to form a plot that can easily keep readers entertained throughout the novel. During the course of the novel, there are many points in the plot that decide the actions and events other cha...
Flannery O'Conner has again provided her audience a carefully woven tale with fascinating and intricate characters. "The Displaced Person" introduces the reader to some interesting characters who experience major life changes in front of the reader's eyes. The reader ventures into the minds of two of the more complex characters in "The Displaced Person," Mrs. McIntyre and Mrs. Shortley, and discovers an unwillingness to adapt to change. Furthermore, the intricate details of their characters are revealed throughout the story. Through these details, the reader can see that both Mrs. McIntyre and Mrs. Shortley suffer from a lack of spiritual dimension that hinders them as they face some of life's harsher realities. Mrs. McIntyre struggles throughout the story, most notably during the tragic conclusion. Her lack of spiritual dimension is revealed slowly until we ultimately see how her life is devastated because of it. Mrs. Shortley, on the other hand, seems to have it all figured out spiritually -- or at least she believes that she does. It is only in the last few minutes of her life that she realizes all she has convinced herself of is wrong.
Phoenix’s journey is a little long just by walking alone in the middle of the
Porter, Katherine. “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 11th ed. New York: Longman, 2010. 79-86. Print.
The influence of nature theme, seen in Romanticism, prevails in “The First Snowfall” and “The Snow-Storm” through figurative language, but through different types of figurative language: similes and personification. “The First Snowfall” employs similes in lines 13 to 16 and 19 and 20; “The Snow-Storm” uses personification in lines 3 to 5. The simile in lines 13 to 16, “I stood and watched by the window, the noiseless work of the sky, and the sudden flurries of snow birds, like brown leaves whirling by,” describes the birds that the narrator sees as leaves falling, which presents an influence of nature. The simile in lines 19 and 20, “How the flakes were folding it gently, As did robins the babes in the wood,” again mentions birds. Whereas, the personification in lines 3 to 5 of “The Snow-Storm,” “...the whited air, Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven, and veils the farm-house at the garden’s end. “ personifies snow, (or “the whited air”), and claims that the snow hides and veils; snow, another element of nature, acts as Emerson’s gateway to bring nature into his work; Lowell’s birds act as his gateway.
(6) The suddenness of the winter storm caught people by surprise. A roar “like an approaching train” was all the warning the storm gave. (130) The roaring wind and snow brought darkness and dropping temperatures. The people who were inside when the blizzard struck faced a dilemma. Staying inside and doing nothing seemed “heartless,” but going into the storm “on a rescue mission was likely to be fatal to the rescuer and useless to the lost.” (143) The people who were unfortunate enough to be away from home, whether they were at school or working with their livestock, had to make a difficult decision. They could either risk trying to make it home or chance it out and stay where they were. Schoolteachers had to decide whether to send the children home or keep them at the school. If anyone ventured outside, he or she risked frostbite, hypothermia, and likely
Ann Petry’s The Street In our society today, there are many images that are portrayed through media and through personal experience that speak to the issues of black motherhood, marriage and the black family. Wherever one turns, there is the image of the black woman in the projects and very rarely the image of successful black women. Even when these positive images are portrayed, it is almost in a manner that speaks to the supposed inferiority of black women.
the street, letting the wind play with the soft ribbons of her cap" (610). The
There are many themes that occur and can be interpreted differently throughout the novel. The three main themes that stand out most are healing, communication, and relationships.
The story of “Life in the Iron Mills” enters around Hugh Wolfe, a mill hand whose difference from his faceless, machine-like colleagues is established even before Hugh himself makes an appearance. The main narrative begins, not with Hugh, but with his cousin Deborah; the third-person point of view allows the reader to see Deborah in an apparently objective light as she stumbles tiredly home from work in the cotton mills at eleven at night. The description of this woman reveals that she does not drink as her fellow cotton pickers do, and conjectures that “perhaps the weak, flaccid wretch had some stimulant in her pale life to keep her up, some love or hope, it might be, or urgent need” (5). Deborah is described as “flaccid,” a word that connotes both limpness and impotence, suggesting that she is not only worn out, but also powerless to change her situation; meanwhile, her life is “pale” and without the vivid moments we all desire. Yet even this “wretch” has something to sti...