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Recommended: Wordsworth's poetry
The Strength of a Family The main character of William Wordsworth's poem, 'We are Seven'; is an eight-year girl that knows more about devotion to her family the most adults ever know. It seems that author is who comes across this child on his journeys. He takes a liking to her right away and even thought, 'Her beauty made me glad.'; I quickly find out that she is one of seven brothers and sisters and she is the only one that is alive and still at home. I say alive, because she has a brother and sister that 'in the church-yard lie';. The four others, presumably four brothers, have all grown up and moved away from home. The entire poem is about the interactions of the man and this girl. For whatever reason, he asks her how many brothers and sisters she has. She tells him she has seven. He, of course, sees no other children running around so challenges her answer. When he finds two are dead, he insists 'then ye are only five,'; she stands firm in her belief that 'Nay, we are seven.'; Each verse goes back and forth with him trying to convince her that she is one of five and of her explaining to him why her brother and sister are still very much part of her life. One would expect this young child to be sad and heart-broken, yet she always comes across as strong willed, happy and quite grown up for her age. Before her brother and sister died, she recalls playing and running. Now she hems kerchiefs, knits stockings and eats her supper down by h...
But what really intrigues me about this poem is the role of the number six. Why is it so important? This poem also informs us of how much he loves his big brother and the importance he thinks he has in this world. He also questions his worth in life. Although I am not sure what this poem is trying to make us feel, I think it can try to make us question certain things like is one truly the loneliest number?
In the first few lines of the poem she talks about going to different dances and how the frequently switched partners, until one day she met Davis. They were soon married and stayed together for seventy years. She and Davis had twelve children, but eight of them died. How the eight children died was never explained in the poem, but it could relate to the time period in which the poem was placed. In the early 1900?s it was normal to have many children, but unless a family had the resources needed, some of the children may die.
Despite the gathering winter she felt relieved to see that her sixteen- year old daughter, now her only child after the early death of her son James, was acting normal again. For the past fortnight the younger Elizabeth had been carrying herself in a strange manner. While walking along normally she would sometimes cry out. Last week she had shrieked at extremely inappropriate time in Sunday dinner and that day in church she had been overcome with irreverent laughter. She was always quick to offer a reasonable excuse to spare the swift punishment usually dispensed to children at the time, but the extravagance and immodes...
At the age of ten, most children are dependent on their parents for everything in their lives needing a great deal of attention and care. However, Ellen, the main character and protagonist of the novel Ellen Foster, exemplifies a substantial amount of independence and mature, rational thought as a ten-year-old girl. The recent death of her mother sends her on a quest for the ideal family, or anywhere her father, who had shown apathy to both she and her fragile mother, was not. Kaye Gibbons’ use of simple diction, unmarked dialogue, and a unique story structure in her first novel, Ellen Foster, allows the reader to explore the emotions and thoughts of this heroic, ten-year-old girl modeled after Gibbons’ own experiences as a young girl.
In Sandra Cisneros’ short story “Eleven,” Rachel’s transition into adolescence is filled with anxiety and conflict, but she understands that the experience it brings will help her in future situations. Her building anxiety becomes more and more apparent after Mrs. Price gives her the red sweater; she suddenly feels “sick inside, like the part of [her] that’s three wants to come out of [her] eyes” (Cisneros 35). The red sweater acts as a symbol for Rachel’s looming adolescence, and arouses feelings of unease inside her; she sees it as a threat to the safety of childhood that she longs to remain rooted in. Comparing herself to a rampant three year old, Rachel also highlights the lack of control she has over her emotions in this transition. However,
These girls have had a rough life. In 1910, their mother died and the four girls only have each other for all their weeps and worries. Also, their dad has been dead for years and ever since the death of their mother, life has just not been the same. They were left as orphans and took care of each other, since they were all they had. Then, something gave the Purcell girls a glimmer of hope. They had a guardian, who for the rest of their lives would take care of the girls. His name was Mr. Mackenzie and he was married to Mrs. Mackenzie and they had kids of their own. They have three sons; Gabriel, Geoffrey, and Antony. Also, they had one daughter; her name was Lucy. One child, though, would soon become very important in Julia’s life. His name was Master Geoffrey and he had been away at school ever since the Mackenzie’s started taking care of the Purcell girls, which was in January of 1910. At this time, he was the same age as Julia. They were both 15 years old. As soon as they first met, they wanted to get to know each other better. One of the first things Geoffrey noticed about Julia is that she was very much like her older sister, Frances; except, there was something special about her. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something
Standing in the front of the mirror every day, people see themselves gradually become an adult from a little boy or a little girl. In “Childhood Dreams”, Jennifer Yee describes a story that her father and she used to spend a lot of happy time in the amusement park together, riding carousels and so on, but now she felt lost and uncertain about her life. The reason why the author felt she was smothered by the real world was probably because she found out that as growing older, life became more complex, and she did not have as much time as she used to have to enjoy life in the childhood, and therefore felt quite depressed about the way she was.
One day she returns home early to learn that her child was critical injured and was in the hospital; quickly she rushes to his side to comfort he. This poem was written in the manner of a mother and child having a conversation about personal choices and consequences....
Spark Notes Editors. “Spark Note on Diary of a Young Girl.” SparkNotes.com. Spark Notes LLC. 2003. Web. 17 Mar. 2011.
Victoria’s early childhood was a very sheltered and reserved one, her best friends growing up was her nanny’s a...
Not only the words, but the figures of speech and other such elements are important to analyzing the poem. Alliteration is seen throughout the entire poem, as in lines one through four, and seven through eight. The alliteration in one through four (whisky, waltzing, was) flows nicely, contrasting to the negativity of the first stanza, while seven through eight (countenance, could) sound unpleasing to the ear, emphasizing the mother’s disapproval. The imagery of the father beating time on the child’s head with his palm sounds harmful, as well as the image of the father’s bruised hands holding the child’s wrists. It portrays the dad as having an ultimate power over the child, instead of holding his hands, he grabs his wrists.
Emelie's childhood had an affect on her sense of happiness. "I had a dear mother who had multiple sclerosis, but that never got me down. I also had three brothers. There were difficulties in my childhood, but I was fortunate to h...
It's about sunlight. It's about the special way that dawn spreads out on a river when you know you must cross the river and march into the mountains and do things you are afraid to do. It's about love and memory. It's about sorrow. It's about sisters who never write back and people who never listen.” -pg. 85
Tobias Wolff’s memoir, This Boy’s Life, is filled with colorful characters and comic incident, and yet has a more grounded and realistic tone than Hegland’s tale. The author, as a young boy and then a teenager, shares none of the bravery and moral fiber of Hegland’s Nell and Eva. In fact, his behavior is problematic throughout the narrative. The parental context for young Toby is a shattered one; a struggling mother paired ...
Most of us can easily picture a typical child's party, loud and hyper boys running about, noise and fun and screaming kids and chaos, but this party seems to be viewed differently by the mother. It is a more serious and quiet event. She sees the boys as "short men" gathering in the living room, not as children having fun. The children seems subdued to us, with "hands in pockets". It is almost as if they are waiting, as the readers are, for something of imp...