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Magical realism paragraph
Magical realism paragraph
Magical realism in literary theory
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In Margie Piercy’s poem “Barbie Doll” the main character experiences the “magic of puberty” (5), and the accompanied backlash **** from *** people treating puberty as if it were an idiopathic disease. The girl is this poem experiences a change from where she was normal, what she was expected to be, “the girl child was born as usual” (1), to maturing through puberty, “You have a great big nose and fat legs” (6) and having to struggle to be accepted by others, “she went to and fro apologizing” (10), apologizing for what she was. This girl was so *** that she was given advice as a way to hide her imperfections and seem more alluring to people, “she was advised to play coy, / exhorted to come on hearty, / exercise, diet, smile and wheedle” (12-14). …show more content…
From the first stanza we can see that the student is having to grapple with a **** burden, “not good enough not pretty enough not smart enough” (3), stemming from her parents out views on her studies. The main character repeatedly apologizes to her parents “I apologize / for disappointing you” (5 and 6), wishing regretfully and mournfully “If only I were a son” (9). She could accomplish to “see the light in my mother’s / eyes, or the golden pride reflected / in my father's dream” (11-13). The speaker believes that if she were not the girl she was, ugly and stupid, and instead was this marvelous image coveted by her parents, “muscled and bold” (17), she would be worthy enough of her parents praise “assured / drawing praises to me” (17 and 18). She unfortunately realizes that all of her hard work is useless just as she will remain “So I have worked hard. / not good enough” (28 and 29). Even with her dedication and hard labors put into her studies, she just cannot thrive with her current *** in the environment she’s been placed in, “surely not good weather for flying- this sparrow / sillied and dizzied by the wind” (36-38) she struggles in vain against her parent expectations. The only way the main character can think of coping with this grief and disappointment is to commit suicide once she has attempted all other …show more content…
David struggles against his teachers expectations of what a normal second grader should be capable of, often receiving negative feedback from the teacher “Write larger/ ...Messy! / … No! / Think again! / … Not in the original” (24-36). It can be seen from the story that david does not have the necessary skills that he should have learned at home such as spelling or structure “Rars aone bro your spek!” (45) and problems containing his energy, “Stay in your seat!” (40) being one of the rules he forgets on the rule’s test. His undeveloped skills probably come from his mother always working “whose mother is at work” (1) and a large family “crumpled drawing of a large family crowded / around a table, an apartment /... a huge sun in one / corner saying, Tomush noys!” (47-50); David can’t receive the proper attention or structure in his home which reflects in his school work. David however doesn't let himself be capsized by his ***, instead he associates his ‘differences’ as being a quality, comparing himself to a bird, he “believes birds are warm blooded, / the way they are quick in the air and give out long
However, because of her parents always said to her that she is not good enough of getting less than a perfect four-point grade average. Nevertheless, in the poem it stated, “dear mother and father. I apologize for disappointing you. I have worked very hard, not good enough”, which her parent made the made the whole atmosphere for their daughter worse because she is already way over her head. Also, She feels stressed and pressured, which one-day, she was on the edge of her emotion and led to her to jump to her death from her dorm window. This affected me as a reader because I am also an Asian-American student, if my parents told me and give me pressure that I have to always get a four-point average grade I think I would go crazy and probably do the same thing as she
In “David Talamentez…” (lines 57-59) “over by cars. On every single page David Talamantez has crossed out the teachers red numbers and written in giant letters, blue ink, Yes! David, yes!” All throughout the poem it is his teachers who will not accept him for who he is (13-17). “in the gutter and wanders toward home. David Talamantez believes birds are warm blooded, the way they are quick in the air and give out long strings of complicated music, different all the time, not like cats and dogs. For this he was marked down.” His opinion does not meet the criteria of what science teaches and his teachers want to change his idea by marking him d...
In the beginning of “Barbie Doll”, pleasurable and unpleasurable imagery is given so that the reader can see the extremes girls go through to be considered perfect.
In Marge Piercy’s, “Barbie Doll,” we see the effect that society has on the expectations of women. A woman, like the girl described in ‘Barbie Doll’, should be perfect. She should know how to cook and clean, but most importantly be attractive according to the impossible stereotypes of womanly beauty. Many women in today’s society are compared to the unrealistic life and form of the doll. The doll, throughout many years, has transformed itself from a popular toy to a role model for actual women. The extremes to which women take this role model are implicated in this short, yet truthful poem.
As the girl grows older she tries to overcome the initial disappointment of being born a girl by trying to over compensate in her life. Even in her accomplishments she never seems to find praise, all that stands out are her failures. Sometimes making mountains out of mole hills in her failures. As stated in line twenty-five “each failure, a glacier”. Lines twenty-six thru twenty-eight seem to describe more of those epic failures “So I have worked hard. Not good enough” lines twenty-nine and thirty go back to her feelings of doubt and depression. Many times the person depressed learns to mask those feelings of self-doubt. No one sees those signs of depression until it is too
It explores this idea primarily through the use of diction that refers counterintuitively to that which it describes. In the opening stanza of Piercy’s poem the idea of gender identity is immediately discussed through the idea that girls are expected to play with certain kinds of toys. Piercy writes “presented dolls that did pee-pee / and miniature GE stoves and irons / and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy” (Piercy 2-4). In quick transition, Piercy then explains that “in the magic of puberty” the young woman was insulted for her appearance (5). This quote shows that gender expectations are placed on children at the first possible moment. As children, girls are forced to prepare for their roles as a wives and mothers by taking care of baby dolls and by cooking pretend meals. This shows that for their entire lives, women are only destined for one outcome—domesticated servitude. In addition, through the use of descriptive language, such as the mention of “pee-pee” and the cherry flavored candy, Piercy seems to mock the way young girls talk (primarily their choice of words). In the next description, Piercy uses imagery to show the reader that the woman is healthy, intelligent, strong, and having “abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.” (9). This quote shows that no matter how smart she was
For a young and passionate college student, expectations from peers, teachers, and parents can be intimidating and emotionally draining. For most parents, having their child succeed is a top priority, and children want to exceed parents’ expectations by achieving good grades and a high standard in school. In the poem “Suicide Note,” by Janice Mirikitani, a female Asian American college student is struggling to live up to her parents expectations. She does not receive a perfect grade point average that her parents are expecting, and she does not have the strength to face them in person. For this young college student, her strengths are not strong enough, and her will and determination are overcome by insecurities and discontent. The speaker is at in a constant battle with her self esteem; her womanhood is becoming a burden on her, and she believes her failure will bring much disappointment to her parents, and disparage their perception of her .
In the poem “Barbie Doll,” Marge Piercy suggests that girls are peer-pressured into fitting social norms based on appearance rather than on other qualities. The poem begins with the speaker describing a girl’s early life with barbie dolls, then progresses to society’s influences on her: “She was advised to play coy,/exhorted to come on hearty,/exercise, smile, and wheedle” (ll. 12-14). The use of passive voice emphasizes the girl’s reluctancy to be “advised” and “exhorted,” two words synonymous with “to urge.” At the same time, the speaker leaves out the subject of the sentence, the people who urge the girl to imply that it could be anyone—in other words, the society. She is forced to “play coy,” “come on hearty,/exercise, smile, and wheedle,” all actions portraying an acceptable image.
The poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy is an embodiment of insecurity. She points out that society wants young women to look and act a certain way and the poem is basically using sarcasm to point out just how superficial and unachievable perfection really is. “Barbie Doll” has a dark tone, but real. The perfect ideals of society force the girlchild to change and hate herself to the point of death being the only way achieve beauty and perfection. In this passage, Piercy uses sarcasm, similes, and descriptions of the physical attributes of womanhood and femininity to emphasize the larger theme of society’s view of perfection, which lines in the superficial appearance of women.
Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” is an ironic poem about society’s expectations for female appearance. The poem starts with an unnamed “girlchild” that comes into a world as things exist as normal for female children. Girls are expected to play with “dolls,” “stove,” “irons,” and “lipsticks” (line2-4) which sets what their interests and behavior should be. Everything is as usual until “the magic of puberty” (line 5) when “girlchild” transforms from a girl to a woman. “The magic of puberty” (line 5) is also seemingly endless drama in her life when her classmate says to her, “You have a great big nose and fat legs” (line 6). Her whole beautiful life seems to collapse. The young woman becomes so obsessed with her imperfection that she ignores her positive qualities. Although she is “healthy, tested intelligent / possess strong arm and back,” (line 7-8) she is so overly preoccupied with her appearance that these good qualities seem not to have any value. Consequently, she only sees her “big nose and fat legs” (line 6) and believes she has no value because of them. She goes “to and fro apologizing” (line 10) for how she looks. She is mentally tortured by others; therefore, she feels insecure. She is “advised to play coy / exhorted to come on hearty / exercise, diet, smile, and wheedle” (line 12-14). Eventually, she becomes exhausted from her effort, she wears out like “a fan belt” (line 16). She is unable to please others whom want to her to give up herself and be someone else. She is unable to cope; therefore, she chooses to commit suicide in order to escape from this ruthless world. When this “girlchild” lies in the casket with “cosmetic painted on,” (line 20) everyone is eventually satisfied saying, “Doesn’t she look pretty?” (Line 24) it is too late for the “girlchild” to hear their compliments. This young lady has
In Marge Piercy’s poem “Barbie Doll” Piercy illustrates the dangers of conformity and stereotypes. “Barbie Doll” also illustrates how society has control on women’s lives. Now a days a woman cannot be herself without being judged because she’s not acting or looking like the rest of the women. The girlchild in the poem is surrounded by stereotypes. She seems to have no choice in her playthings. She is “Presented dolls that did pee-pee/ and miniature GE stoves and irons/ and wee lipsticks the color cherry candy” (lines 2-4).
Chapter nine is titled “Gender and Sexuality”. This chapter discusses terms such as “gender”, “sexuality”, and “sexual scripts”. These terms are closely related to the importance that the Lammily doll and the possible impact it could have on girl’s understanding of these topics which largely affect who they are and how they are perceived to be. Chapter thirteen, is titled “The Body, Medicine, Health, and Health Care”. My interest in this chapter as related to the article is because it discusses The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf. I find this chapter to be especially important to this article. Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth, “argues that the media confront the vast majority of people with unattainable standard of beauty” (Ritzer 383). Wolf’s argument is completely valid and provides an explanation to the debate of Barbie versus Lammily. The Barbie doll enforces this concept of the “male gaze” by constantly forcing the unreachable image promoted by the men who run the media and companies such as this. While the Lammily doll promotes the idea of the promotion and enforcement of an achievable standard beauty. The Lammily doll’s beauty is achievable because it is “average”, in the sense that this doll was created to closely resemble the average body shape of healthy nineteen year old
The essential element that captured my attention in " Barbie Doll " written by Marge Piercy (Arp and Johnson, 118-119) was how deceptive the title is . Before reading the poem, I thought that the poem was going to portray something flawless and beautiful. The poem itself does mention and include an actual Barbie, but it does not describe Barbie as something perfect and flawless as most people in society do. Instead, it highlights the harsh beauty standards Barbie dolls portray. This specific poem does a phenomenal job in expressing the sad truth about what a comment can do to a young woman's self-esteem.
In the poem, “Barbie Doll,” Marge Piercy explains how women and young girls are easily persuaded and manipulated by society when it comes down to body image and self-esteem. Throughout the poem, a young girl has trouble
I also relly like this poem. You make a good point as in reference to the sept sisters mutilating themselves in pursuit of the prince, "Barbie Doll" also touches on this. The part of your post that stood out most to me was when you mentioned the advice Cinderellas mother gave her and that you felt that her mother only wanted the best for Cinderella. I think that is part of what Sexton is saying, that parents are telling the daughters to be devout and good, and their sons to be useful, noble and strong and that these gender specific stereotypes start our children on a potentially dangerous road of self-doubt and false idea of happiness.