Mary Austin The Land of Little Rain
The Basket Maker
Mary Austin's The Basket Maker is, like all her other stories in the book, a very detailed description of the western landscape and its inhabitants. But this time she focused more on a single inhabitant, an Indian woman named Seyavi.
It is rather difficult to really define the plot of the story. Though the story seems to focus on Seyavi's life and experiences she is not the one who tells that story. The narrator, who is omniscient, takes over the role as a medium between her and the reader. The narrator is not determined, the reader does not know, who is telling the story, whether it is a woman or a man, though two things speak towards a female narrator: the first is a very obvious one, since the book was written by a woman I simply suggest that the narrator here is a woman, too. The second reason also speaks for a woman narrator, because she focuses more on things I would expect to be more of female interest and is more likely to be recognized or mentioned by women: I have read many diaries written by women on the overland trails and written about their lives at the frontier ( Willa Cather does that, too). All of them had a very special way of treating landscape and Indians in their writings. Especially with landscape they were very detailed, sometimes this was the only thing they wrote about for days. It also seemed to me that compared to male diaries, women used to have a very special curiosity about Indians and Indian behavior. So I will refer to the narrator in my analysis as she'.
The reason why I think the narrator is omniscient ( in the sense of she knows more about the topic she talks about as we do) as well as reliable, or at least she wants us to think she was, is because she simply says so. She feels authorized to tell Seyavi's story because she knows the land, the living conditions there and she knows how to survive in these lands. This is the moment when she forms a kind of conspiracy with those who also know the land, who have been there. " To understand the fashion of any life, one must know the land it is lived in and the procession of the year.
Humankind has been facing and conquering problems, droughts, famines, and wars for instance, since the beginning of its existence. Throughout an individual’s life, obstacles arise and challenges present themselves in an attempt to inhibit the individual from moving forward. In her poem Crossing the Swamp, Mary Oliver utilizes a variety of techniques to expand on this idea, establishing a relationship between the speaker and the swamp as one of determination and realized appreciation.
Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut: A Diary from Dixie, by Mary Boykin Chesnut, Wife of James Chesnut, Jr., United States Senator from South Carolina, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1905. I to 352 pp. Reviewed by Mayra Catalan 02/27/2016
Most Americans know John Wilkes Booth as the assassin of Abraham Lincoln- shot at a play at Ford’s Theater on April 14th, 1865. However, the names of the conspirators that surrounded Wilkes Booth are relatively unknown, especially that of Mary Surratt. Mary Surratt, a mother and boardinghouse proprietor, was arrested and tried for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln along with her son, John Surratt. Pleas from her family, lawyer, and fellow conspirators did not allow her to escape her fate, and she was hanged for her crimes on July 7th, 1865. Even from the scaffold, Lewis Powell, another conspirator condemned to die, cried, “Mrs. Surratt is innocent. She doesn't deserve to die with the rest of us.” So who was this woman, and most importantly, what role did she really play in the assassination of the President of the United States? Was she simply blindly aiding her son and thus innocent, as claimed by Lewis Powell, or did she have a more involved role in the plot? Mary Surratt opened up her home to conspirators and ended up paying the price for her decision.
Mary Wade, born on the 5th of October 1777 was the youngest convict to be sent to Australia. Before her life as a convict, she would sweep and beg on the streets of London to make her living.
One of the leading black female activists of the 20th century, during her life, Mary Church Terrell worked as a writer, lecturer and educator. She is remembered best for her contribution to the struggle for the rights of women of African descent. Mary Terrell was born in Memphis, Tennessee at the close of the Civil War. Her parents, former slaves who later became millionaires, tried to shelter her from the harsh reality of racism. However, as her awareness of the problem developed, she became an ardent supporter of civil rights. Her life was one of privilege but the wealth of her family did not prevent her from experiencing segregation and the humiliation of Jim Crow laws. While traveling on a train her family was sent to the Jim Crow car. This experience, along with others led her to realize that racial injustice was evil. She saw that racial injustice and all other forms of injustice must be fought.
There are many elements in a horror story that can make it frightening, whether it be the suspense, gore, or ghosts, but in Mary Gaitskill's short story "The Other Place" there is no supernatural. Instead, what makes Gaitskill's story so terrifying is how realistic it is. The narrator supposedly lives a normal life, except when he visits "the other place", which is a place in his mind where he goes to think about his dark and violent thoughts. Gaitskill's narrator speaks about three stages in his life: his childhood, life as a teenager, and life with his son, but the more he reveals, the scarier the story gets.
Mary Warren is an important character in Arthur Miller’s play, THE CRUCIBLE. Much of the action in Act III revolves around Mary’s testimony in court. She is a kind and basically honest girl who tries to do the right thing, saving her friends from harm. However, throughout Acts I and II, Mary is a follower who allows Abigail Williams to negatively influence her good judgment. To make matters worse, Mary is terrified of Abigail’s threats. Because of her weak will, the reader isn’t certain if Mary will maintain the courage to help John Proctor to win his court case in Act III.
Since the case of Mary Ellen Wilson in 1874, child abuse has seen it’s share of light in published news. It is disheartening to read countless stories of future generations being harmed to the extent of psychological damage or even death. Child abuse as a whole has been addressed multiple times in various news blogs, however, nothing has been done to work towards abolishing it at a larger level. The future of America is in jeopardy based on the level of abuse that children endure. Childhelp states that approximately 5 children die every day at the hands of child abuse. America struggles to find equality, and by bystanding the stripping of its youth, continual prolonging is inevitable. Raising this nation’s children in means of nurturing and care is the first step to uplifting America as a whole. In 2012 alone, 1593 of America’s children died at the hands of child abuse, 70.3% of which were younger than the age of three (Safe Horizon). In order to prevent further child abuse, the American government should address stricter child protection laws, psychological stability, and an increase the recognition of those that have released their stories.
I am reading “The Bass, River, and Sheila Mant” By: W.D. Wetherell. This story is about, a 14-year-old boy who has a massive crush on this 17-year-old girl, Sheila. He watches her and fishes and builds up the courage to ask her out. In this journal I will be questioning
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Hachette Book Group, 2007. Print.
Running around barefoot, playing outside, and getting dirty were a few of my favorite things to do when I was younger; however, things have changed drastically since then. Now, at eighteen, all of the activities I used to enjoy make me want to cringe. Often, girls are encouraged to look and act a certain way based on what society’s expectations are at the time. Throughout adolescence girls tend to drift away from their old ways. Romances, body changes, and tensions with parents are all factors in this time of change. In Mary Pipher’s Saplings in the Storm, she claims that adolescents must adapt to stereotypical gender characteristics in American culture.
The second person point of view helps the reader to connect with the girl in this story. It shows the reader a better understanding of this character and how she is being raised to be a respectable woman. This point of view also gives us an insight on the life of women and shows us how they fit into their society. Through this point of view, the reader can also identify the important aspects of the social class and culture. The daughter tries to assert a sense of selfhood by replying to the mother but it is visible that the mother is being over whelming and constraining her daughter to prepare her for
What would you do if you were a witness to child abuse today? Would you turn your head as if it were not your business, would you intervene immediately, or would you report the abuser to the authorities? It was approximately 1869 - 1870 when a woman named Charlotte Fiehling "cringed at the sound of the child's beating. She had heard it before, but had never laid eyes the child. The little girl was no more than five or six if she was a day, judging by her size, and her poor legs were striped with the welts of a whip, her body bruised from blows. Her hair matted and infested with vermin, no doubt, and she did not appear to have had a bath of any kind for many days, if not weeks" (qtd. In Shelman 187). This little girls name was Mary Ellen Wilson. Prior to 1874, the United States did not have any laws to protect children from abuse. Though society is still learning, we have come along way. There are still many cases of child abuse, but as a society we now have ways to intervene, and prevent this abuse and neglect. It was in 1874 when the first court case of child abuse was argued. It was the case of, Mary Ellen Wilson. Mary Ellen as a young girl was severely beaten with whips, burned with the iron, cut with scissors, not to mention the sexual, and emotional abuse. It was in 1874 that a major change in our legal system took place in society. The change was a realization to our legal system that we have to do something about children like Mary Ellen. We have learned many lessons from this alarming event. Now we have choices, now we can help, and now we have child protection services. This case has delivered us, as a society, many messages. I am going to point out two major lessons I found are crucial to how we do thi...
In the story, the narrator is forced to tell her story through a secret correspondence with the reader since her husband forbids her to write and would “meet [her] with heavy opposition” should he find her doing so (390). The woman’s secret correspondence with the reader is yet another example of the limited viewpoint, for no one else is ever around to comment or give their thoughts on what is occurring. The limited perspective the reader sees through her narration plays an essential role in helping the reader understand the theme by showing the woman’s place in the world. At ...
Today is a day of hope and of great anticipation. John, my husband, has told me we are to leave to California tomorrow. We are to leave our small, pitiful home here in Massachusetts and find many opportunities in the west. We have heard of many men who have traveled west and discovered gold. “Gold covers California like a blanket,” they have told John. Our farm here leaves no opportunities for our family. Our two sons and three daughters are growing older and we wish for them to be prosperous. Not like now. Now, we have no money and our only value, our farm, is falling apart.