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History of thanksgiving
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The author of this essay, Michael Arlen, in his summary of the holidays, Ode to `Thanksgiving is nostalgic and bitter about the subject. Arlen’s purpose it to break down and criticize every aspect of Thansksgiving in a cloying, annoyed way. Arlen speaks of the “pointless” traditons that go along with Thanksgiving and the bland history of how the celebratory day was formed. The author does this by using strong rhetorical devices such as imagery, syntax, and tone. While reading this one may feel as if Arlen is personally attacking them, and their appreciation of the day of celebration. He adopts a satirical tone in order to convince the reader that Thanksgiving is a terrible day, and that he does not enjoy any particular detail of it.
The essay opens with the assertion that Thanksgiving is not really a holiday because it possesses none of the characteristics of a real holiday. Arlen attacks the imagery of the holiday, the participants, the lack of presents, and the lack of costumary values. Next, the holiday is attacked because it occurs during the "nowhereness of the time of year." The season is characterized as bad in both the "cold and sobersides northern half of the country." Last, the writer moves us to "consider the meal itself." He attacks the starches, the "sacred turkey" and ritual of the carving itself. The author creates a bitter and nostalgic tone, the emotion of the first paragraph sets the tone for the rest of the essay. The tone is set by the specific details the author uses, as well as the diction Arlen expounds. Arlen leaves the reader asking, "Is nothing sacred or important to this man?”
In the second paragraph Arlen demonizes the religious aspect of the holiday, calling Thanksgivi...
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...onification, and hyperbole. The author continues this when he narrates his view on carving the turkey as “ trying to burrow his way into or out of some grotesque, fowllike prison.” Arlen uses a double entendre here because he sees the turkey as some kind of disgusting jail that one must dig its way out of. The author also uses the word follwlike to describe the bird as a fowl, and the fowl look the torn apart the bird has when served for dinner.
In this essay, Arlen continuously vilfies Thanksgiving in an attempt to describe to readers that the holiday is not all it is cracked up to be. The rhetorical devices used in the essay are there to persuade the reader to agree with the author. The essay suggests that due to past experiences people may have viable reasons to dislike a holiday, but it is unecessary to force those negative views on other people.
On this date November 25 “Marc Brown” wrote a book. The book Marc had wrote was Arthur's Thanksgiving.
Nathaniel Philbrick opens his book by drawing a direct line from the early Pilgrim’s arrival on Plymouth rock to the building of America. He goes on to say, “Instead of the story we already know, it becomes the story we need to know.” Many of us growing up, myself included romanticize about the pilgrims in the light of the first Thanksgiving and we think about the Indians sitting down with the Pilgrims to take part of the Thanksgiving meal. Next, we believe the myth that everyone lived happily ever after.
Nathaniel Philbrick tells the story of the Pilgrims, beginning with them breaking away from the Church of England, emigrating to Holland, and eventually to America on the Mayflower. He talks about the relationship they had with the "Strangers" or nonbelievers that accompanied them on their adventure. He tells stories about disease, death, deception, and depression. I had never thought about it, but you know some of those people had to be suffering from depression. He tells of joys but mostly of hardships and as he describes some of the first meetings with the Native Americans. His description of the first Thanksgiving is not the same as the pictures I have seen all of my life.
To help many readers understand that other cultures do not celebrate or recognize the same religious traditions, the Polish, Italian, and Moroccan classmates are thrown into the classroom and add to the plot. Most readers and Sedaris audience may already have a thorough understanding of what Easter is from a religious perspective already and may be surprised that some people don’t know what Easter is. To many, Easter is one of the most important Christian religious celebrations, which is dedicated to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Knowing the important of easter, when the Moroccan student explains that she has never heard of Easter before, the other classmates try to express what it is by using and sharing their own cultural experiences. The Polish students tries to explain the events that took place and the reasoning for the holiday, while others try to express their ideas about who Jesus was. The Italian student then brought up what traditional foods are eaten on the holiday, sparking a debate between the narrator and the class about the Easter bunny and the flying Easter bell from Rome. The story gradually comes to a conclusion, with Sedaris realizing that Christianity itself has quite a few
She starts her poem by addressing her dead brother Johnny and gives a series of complaints about the condition of her kitchen. Just like what happens to many people, she recounts how they hesitate to undertake their responsibilities and blame them on other people or circumstances. She gives the ordinary excuses of a lazy person, accusing the presence of the mess in her kitchen rather than her indolence. She claims the crusty dishes have piled up while it is she or her guests piled them in the sink. She expects the plumber to repair the drainage although she didn't even call him. She would probably have a better kitchen if she called the plumber and then washed the dirty dishes. Instead of taking action, she stands, watches, and then blames everything else apart from herself. She recounts that is the ordinary thing that people do, and before she could solve her kitchen mess she drifts to another distraction and notices that it's already winter. Ideally, people will find tons of distraction but will not find time to accomplish their
In this essay, McFarland discusses Native American poetry and Sherman Alexie’s works. He provides an overview of Alexie’s writing in both his poems and short stories. A brief analysis of Alexie’s use of humor is also included.
The article, “Native Reactions to the invasion of America”, is written by a well-known historian, James Axtell to inform the readers about the tragedy that took place in the Native American history. All through the article, Axtell summarizes the life of the Native Americans after Columbus acquainted America to the world. Axtell launches his essay by pointing out how Christopher Columbus’s image changed in the eyes of the public over the past century. In 1892, Columbus’s work and admirations overshadowed the tears and sorrows of the Native Americans. However, in 1992, Columbus’s undeserved limelight shifted to the Native Americans when the society rediscovered the history’s unheard voices and became much more evident about the horrific tragedy of the Natives Indians.
“Notes of a Native Son” is faceted with many ideas and arguments. The essay begins with Baldwin recounting July 29, 1943. The day his father died and his mother bore her last child (63). Baldwin shares his fathers’ past and of the hate and bitterness that filled him and how Baldwin realizes that it may soon fill him also. Baldwin spends the rest of the essay mostly analyzing his experiences and the behavior and mentality of his father, of whom he seemed to dislike. He comes to the conclusion that one must hold true two ideas: “. . . acceptance, totally without rancor, of life as it is and men as they are: in light of this idea... injustice is...
The poem “America” also shows that not all households in America eat the specific food or drink that has been assigned to a particular occasion due to the poverty of the household, their belief or heritage. The poet wrote about his family eating pork on Thanksgiving Day instead of the traditional baked turkey, and on every other occasion because, that was the food his parents grew up with and prefer to cook. Likewise, during thanksgiving in my house I don’t cook the traditional meal that is a baked turkey and mashed potatoes, rather I cook food from my native country because that is what I know how to cook and enjoy
Louise Erdrich’s short story “American horse” is a literary piece written by an author whose works emphasize the American experience for a multitude of different people from a plethora of various ethnic backgrounds. While Erdrich utilizes a full arsenal of literary elements to better convey this particular story to the reader, perhaps the two most prominent are theme and point of view. At first glance this story seems to portray the struggle of a mother who has her son ripped from her arms by government authorities; however, if the reader simply steps back to analyze the larger picture, the theme becomes clear. It is important to understand the backgrounds of both the protagonist and antagonists when analyzing theme of this short story. Albetrine, who is the short story’s protagonist, is a Native American woman who characterizes her son Buddy as “the best thing that has ever happened to me”. The antagonist, are westerners who work on behalf of the United States Government. Given this dynamic, the stage is set for a clash between the two forces. The struggle between these two can be viewed as a microcosm for what has occurred throughout history between Native Americans and Caucasians. With all this in mind, the reader can see that the theme of this piece is the battle of Native Americans to maintain their culture and way of life as their homeland is invaded by Caucasians. In addition to the theme, Erdrich’s usage of the third person limited point of view helps the reader understand the short story from several different perspectives while allowing the story to maintain the ambiguity and mysteriousness that was felt by many Natives Americans as they endured similar struggles. These two literary elements help set an underlying atmos...
While this invitation produced anxiety for every person that attended this meal, the toll that it took on my nephew was rather difficult to watch. His father chose to attend the day before Thanksgiving; but a half-hour before the scheduled 2 p.m. time for dinner, he let his son know that his girlfriend and her children had decided to come as well. While the adults scrambled to add additional seating, my nephew excitedly stood outside on the porch anticipating his guests’ arrival. An hour later, this little boy dejectedly wondered whether his father had changed his mind. When his guests finally arrived, we all ate an awkward, cold dinner, and my ex-brother-in-law whisked them all (including my nephew) away to his family’s Thanksgiving meal, which meant that my disappointed nephew never got to share the chocolate pie that he had helped make.
...itable for their new claimant, and to build houses able to withstand the brutal New England winters. By fall, they had “fitted their houses against winter, and had all things in good plenty” so, Bradford called for a celebration, a “Thanksgiving shared with their Wampanoag friends.” (Kelso, 2005)
...is story, Hemingway brings the readers back the war and see what it caused to human as well as shows that how the war can change a man's life forever. We think that just people who have been exposed to the war can deeply understand the unfortunates, tolls, and devastates of the war. He also shared and deeply sympathized sorrows of who took part in the war; the soldiers because they were not only put aside the combat, the war also keeps them away from community; people hated them as known they are officers and often shouted " down with officers" as they passing. We have found any blue and mournful tone in this story but we feel something bitter, a bitter sarcasm. As the war passing, the soldiers would not themselves any more, they became another ones; hunting hawks, emotionless. They lost everything that a normal man can have in the life. the war rob all they have.
I did not like to present an image of myself as a joyless scold on Thanksgiving, but I wished to have my views given respect and consideration. I did ...
Smith, Andrew. "The Industrialized Turkey." The Turkey: An American Story. Illinois : Library of Congress, 2006. 93-105. Print.