The book Blind, written by Rachel DeWoskin, is about a highschool sophomore named Emma, who went blind after being struck in the face with a firework. When she first lost her sight, Emma was placed in a hospital for over 2 months, and once she was released, she could finally go home again. DeWoskin uses the characterization of Emma throughout the beginning of the text to help the reader understand the character’s struggle more. Especially in the first few chapters, it was difficult for Emma to adapt to a world without sight. For instance, DeWoskin writes, “And sat down, numb, on our gold couch. And tried to open my eyes, rocked, counted my legs and arms and fingers. I didn’t cry. Or talk” (DeWoskin 44). As a result of losing a very important scent, she’s started to act differently from a person with sight. …show more content…
She counts her fingers and arms to make sure they are still there because she has no way of knowing without being able to see.
Someone with sight would never perform such an action because they have no need to. The way that she acts helps the reader understand Emma’s conflict better because it is unlike a normal person to feel the need to count body parts the way that she does. Ever since Emma went blind, she's been ashamed of herself, as if she had done something wrong. DeWoskin writes, “Open your eyes, Emma. I thought of myself as ‘Emma’ then, or ‘you,’ or ‘she,’ anyone but me” (DeWoskin 46). Emma perceiving herself as “you” or “she” shows that she is so uncomfortable with herself that she doesn’t want to be herself. She believes that her blindness is her own fault, when it was really fate. From this information, the reader can tell that she is struggling with her self image and therefore, doesn’t want to be “Emma” anymore. In conclusion, the characterization of Emma from Blind by Rachel DeWoskin helps the reader understand Emma’s struggle
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Do we control the judgments and decisions that we make every day? In the book,
In the essay, “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self,” Alice Walker writes about how she lost her eyesight in one eye due to a childhood accident. Alice communicates to the reader how, when losing an eye, she cared much less about the loss of her eyesight and more about how she appeared to others. In the story, Alice recalls different points where the accident affected her life. To her, the loss of her eye was not just a physical impediment, but a mental one as well. Once she had a surgery to remove the “glob of whitish scar tissue,” she felt like a new person, even though she still could not see. Alice says, “Now that I’ve raised my head,” and can stop holding herself back from being the greatest she can be. Just as Alice is affected by
In the first paragraph, the narrator also reveals his ignorance. He believes that all blind people are based on only what he has seen in movies, "My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they are led by seeing-eye dogs “(104). The narrator was surprised when he noticed Robert was not like this. The narrator is also surprised when Robert lights a cigarette. He believes blind people don’t smoke because “they couldn’t see the smoke they exhaled” (108). The husband starts to feel more comfortable after this. The three of them sit down for dinner and the husbands is impressed with the how Robert is able to locate his food, cut with a knife, and eat properly. This is where the narrator’s outlook starts to undergo change.
In the book The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, the character Dinah is given a new life, and becomes more than the side note that she is in the Bible. The book starts with Dinah the memories of her mother and aunts, which are stories that have been passed down to her. Throughout the book it becomes clear that the stories and memories of the women in her family have a strong impact on Dinah, and it seems as though she expects her life to follow in a similar path to the lives of her “mothers.” When Dinah falls in love with a man, she expects that she will be able to marry him and live the rest of her life with him. Things are not so simple, as her brothers do not approve of the man she falls in love with and murder
After reading this book I wondered what it would be like to be blind then gain sight, but realize you cannot see yourself because you are invisible. It seems like a cruel joke that once you can see you realize that you still cannot see who you are. Even though this seems like a very depressing event Ellison makes it seem like a positive thing. While, at the end of the story, the narrator still does not know his place in the world he seems to be glad that he is no longer blindfolded. He even questions the reader's ability to see, "Who knows but that, on some lower frequencies, I speak for you?" What Ellison does well is the evolution of the narrator's blindness.
“ open your mouth!’’ scearemed Dave’s mom. He tried so hard to keep his mouth closed, but his mom plugged his nose. When he opened his mouth as his mom shoved the mix of cleaning products down his throat. His mouth began to burn all the way down his throat. This is one one things his mom does to him in this book that I am using. The book is called A Child Called ‘It’, by Dave Pelzer. This a true story about Dave’s childhood.
“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” ― Albert Einstein. In The Chosen by Chaim Potok, there stands one main character that voices the book and leads the readers through the story. Teenage Reuven Malter is dedicated to his religious studies and at school. In one unlikely event, he meets his new friend who has a different religion from him. Reuven gains a new friend and learns about this other religion. He possesses character qualities that make him a very likeable character. His maturity is generous for his age. The three main character traits that Reuven possesses are curiosity, knowledge, and reflectiveness.
Helen Keller once shared, "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved." In the book, The Chosen by Chaim Potok, Billy endured agonizing trials and circumstances as a young child. A tragic accident resulted in not only the loss of Billy's vision, but also the death of his mother. While many would be annihilated by such pain, Billy demonstrates joy. Bitterness and a sullen attitude do not characterize him, but rather, Billy shows the traits of optimism, patriotism, and graciousness
Appearances both mask and reveal the characters. Sometime a rough and tough exterior gives way to reveal a gentle and loving heart. In some novels the appearances of some characters remain relatively fixed throughout the novel, while others undergo subtle and drastic changes that force us to question. Do appearances deceive, reveal or confuse? Do characters speech and actions contrast with their appearances? People are judged by outside looks appearances and no one is stopping to promote stops promoting this myth. Discrimination also can be seen in the novel In the Heat of the Night by John Ball, where the words and appearance do not match with the personality
John Knowles, the author of the book a separate peace uses a highly descriptive paragraphs and a child narrative to give the reader the perspective of a teenage student as he explores the true meaning of friendship, the loss of innocence, self-realization.
Are the beautiful really lost or are they found? The Beautiful Lost by Luanne Rice, Maia is a 16 year old girl who struggles with depression after her mom left. Maia comes up with a plan to go cross country to find her mom but her plan takes a turn when her crush 16 year old Billy comes along. Together the two teens make their way from Crawford Connecticut USA to Tadoussac Quebec Canada. On their journey they come across several roadblocks and conflicts. The book has its ups and downs but overall it has an amazing story line.
Carol Shields's novel “Unless” describes a story of Reta Winters, a happy and successful 44-year-old writer who married a doctor, Tom, for 26 years, and has three lovely daughters in her family. Her life should be perfect until her eldest daughter Norah drops out of university and begs on a street corner in Toronto with a hand-lettered sign around her neck that says a word "Goodness." The novel is written in Reta’s first person, readers will have a direct vision on how her thinking changes, how she become more matured after Norah’s leaving home, and how she thinks, communicates and interacts with other characters such as her husband Tom, her other daughters, her friends, and her writing career. In this essay, analysis and discussions Reta’s
Saramago’s story follows the epidemic of blindness from the beginning. This allows him to show all the different emotions of each character; documenting how those emotions develop. The first female, the wife of the first blind man, reacts how any person would realistically react: she cries. The doctor’s wife reacts in a more pragmatic way. After she releases the thin shred of hope that there is no epidemic of blindness she moves on, simply taking her
Emma's life was greatly influenced by her reading. She lived in a world of fiction rather than in the real world. She wanted the things she read about to come alive in her own life. The idea of romantic nights, old castles, and moonlight meetings supplied a satisfaction in her that she couldn't find anywhere else. She needed constant excitement and change. If she never read these romantic novels, then she would not have been a dreamer and a sentimentalist. Her normal life of everyday living would have kept her content rather than intolerable.
In the poem “Before I got my eye put out” the author talks about how she relies on her eye sight to be able to do some of the things she likes to do but she can’t anymore because she has lost her sight. She talks about how before she got her eyes put out, she actually enjoyed being able to see. “Before I got