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Life story narrative
Life story narrative
Critical literary analysis of mother to son
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Together Through Trials Would you survive a life without your parents? In the novel, The Crystal Drop by Monica Hughes, Mitch and Sadie play a vital role in developing Megan and Ian’s characters. By providing knowledge, a guide to survival and family support, they help the protagonists achieve their goal to reach Lundbreck and start a new life. Megan and Ian discover many useful tips and tricks through Mitch and Sadie. “Mitch made [Ian] feel like a man.” (page 140) He taught Ian the many jobs of men with tasks such as building a henhouse and a pen for their goats, whittling and sharpening and holding a knife correctly. On top of this, he explained how the world has come to be for mankind used to “...dam rivers… meddle with nature... …show more content…
[and] irrigate the land for crops.” (page 149) This continued until “the land dried... [to] nothing but sand” (page 149) and there was nothing left of the Earth. In other words, their ancestors were “...breaking the land.” (page 150) As a result, the term “empties coming back” (page 154) was formed. This refers to the “...grain cars full of nothing but empty promises… and the clouds
were the same.” (page 156) As floods and drought appeared, the weather became severe and it would be described as “the great depression.” (page 155) Megan and Ian develop a sense of understanding for …show more content…
the cause of the world’s obliteration. They also learn how to preserve and retrieve what they have lost and they are inspired to heal the planet’s health. When Mitch describes how survivalists only “...greed and grab” (page 148), they understand how important it was to only take what they required and to share their wealth and resources with those in need. By grasping this valuable knowledge, Megan and Ian are able to strive through their struggles. Enduring every obstacle becomes possible with the help of Mitch and Sadie. Megan was on the verge of dying, and so was Ian for encountering the survivalists who shot her was the biggest obstruction they faced. Her injury altered her senses which caused her to hallucinate and throw their precious water away. As Ian struggled to manage her sister, it triggered him to take control and find Mitch and Sadie. Before Megan’s wound worsened, they were able to remove the bullet and restore her health. Not only did they fortify her strength, but Ian’s as well for solely eating gophers has made him malnourished. “Sadie [had] stuffed [them] with food three times a day, not counting snacks in between.” (page 141) Although they were running out of their meager supply of meals, “she [also] prepared three days of food” (page 163) for their trip to Lundbreck. Not to mention, Megan would never have known how to arrive at their destination without the map that Mitch had drawn. Mitch and Sadie support Megan and Ian for they have learned to cherish and care for them. Through Mitch and Sadie, Megan and Ian experienced the unconditional love of parents.
“They saved their lives… and treated [them] like family.” (page 161) Megan learned how to trust again and recognized that although they have met many malicious and egocentric people, there were still benevolent humans in the world. Also, her relationship with Ian is put to the test when Ian refused to leave and admitted that “Mitch [was] like a dad, [and he] made him feel important.” (page 157) She felt dishonoured, because she had been doing her best to take care of him for she desires to fulfill her promise to her mom. Her efforts were tremendous yet Ian did not appreciate her. In Spite of this challenge, it brings them closer together and Ian becomes more courteous to Megan. Lastly, “If [they] did not like it [in Lundbreck]... [they] were welcome back to their home.” (page 163) This comes straight from Sadie’s words and she assures Megan a backup plan. She never neglects to make them feel welcome and safe. Megan and Ian battle their onerous journey when Sadie and Mitch become the parents they have
lost. Through their wisdom, service and love, Mitch and Sadie have made a huge impact on the novel. They develop the protagonists as characters and they lead them to their solution. Reaching Lundbeck would not be possible without them. In a similar way, a child is helpless without their parents to guide them.
Lori was the first one to leave for New York City after graduation, later, Jeanette followed her and moved into her habitat with her. Jeanette promptly found a job as a reporter, the two sisters were both living their dream life away from their miserable parents. It wasn’t difficult for them since they cultured to be independent and tough. Everything was turning out great for them and decided to tell their younger siblings to move in with them, and they did. Jeanette was finally happy for once, enjoying the freedom she had and not having to be moved every two weeks. She then found a guy whom she married and accustomed her lifestyle. Furthermore, her parents still couldn’t have the funds for a household or to stay in stable occupation, so they decided to move in with Jeanette and her siblings. Jeanette at that moment felt like she was never going to have an ordinary life because her parents were going to shadow her.
In conclusion, The Baker family went through a lot through the great depression, and it affected there lives in many ways that they thought it wouldn’t. This autobiography on the troubles him and his family faced during the Great Depression. During the Depression, the major problems that Baker faced through the novel were about the financial difficulties that his family endured, ending in result of his father passing away, the struggles of moving from rural life to urban life, and the lack of Medical attention around the area. During the depression, in Morrisonville there was a common occurrence as many towns people died from common illnesses like phenomena, or whooping cough. This book has much to offer to teenage readers who are interested in the story of one individual’s growth, development, and struggles of his life in the Great Depression.
Smiley, Gene. Rethinking the Great Depression. American Ways Series. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, 2004.
The Great Depression, which began with the stock market crash of 1929 and lasted for the next decade, was a time of desperation and disorientation in America. In an effort to bring the country back on its feet, President Roosevelt initiated the Farm Security Administration (FSA) project. Photographers were hired and sent across the United States to document Americans living in poverty, and Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans were two of those photographers that were sent out. Along with their partners Paul S. Taylor and James Agee they started their projects which were approached through two different methods. Agee and Evans project Let Us Now Praise Famous Men and Lange and Taylor’s project An American exodus: A Record of Human Erosion, are two similar, though different types of work. Both projects are of the poor tenant farmers in the south and the sharecroppers living during the Great Depression during the 1930s. The first difference I noticed is the way the pictures are presented in the two projects. By this I mean how they are taken and how Evans and Lange chose which ones that were to be included in the books. A second difference is that Agee and Taylor had two different writing techniques and these are the biggest differences between the two books.
The United States was in troubled times in 1929. In this year, during its already struggling economy, the stock market crashed. This one event created a domino effect, and other troubling events followed. One example of the tragedies was the drought, and the dust storms. James Gregory, the author of American Exodus writes,
The author does a good job of illustrating that the Great Depression was meant to have a light at the end of the tunnel. However, his writing is weakened by the presence of generalization and overuse of common knowledge. The author’s question would simply be: “how did the cultural shift (film, writings, art, and music) unknowingly change America’s perspective and outlook towards the Depression?” Dickstein was able to answer this clearly in the conclusion. He claims that during this economic crisis Franklin D Roosevelt wanted to promote “courage to face up to the social crisis, empathy for the sufferings of others, a break with past thinking about how we ought to live” (Dickstein 524). Dickstein believes that the films helped instill those attributes unknowingly in the American people. The most effective example referenced by Dickstein is The Wizard of Oz. The qualities that the Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, and Scarecrow demanded (a heart, courage, and a brain) were qualities that Americans needed to get through the eras economic crisis. The characters in the film undergo various trials as they follow the Yellow Brick Road to Emerald City; from the road of the Great Depression to the Promised Land. It was the explanation as to why the last few years of the 1930s were strangely optimistic. The author’s evidence at first felt some things were unaddressed, but as the book came to an end, it felt complete. The author’s conclusions makes sense because it connects to readers in the present. As he referenced The Wizard of Oz, he was able to show how Americans were able to find those optimistic traits in themselves. It’s by working together and using their own strengths to find their way home that encouraged people to keep their heads up. This will convince the reader because media in today’s society has the same effect on influencing people, whether it be
With the threatening reality of Morrie’s illness looming overhead, Mitch must learn from him just how necessary it is to live life to the fullest. Mitch was living an empty life, a life lacking fulfillment and love. Morrie explained this in a quote “So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they are busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things.” He also explained, “The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” Morrie helps Mitch lead a life consisting of love and happiness rather then material possessions. Morrie taught Mitch to live with the key ingredients of happiness and gave him understanding about what those ingredients are, and how to make them apart of his life.
Pause to recall a picture of the Great Depression. Was this image happy or sad? Maybe it was a scene of a family enjoying the radio, children reading comics, a group of young men playing baseball, the movie theatre, or even children playing Monopoly; however most people would picture a migrant mother with her children, an adult holding a sign asking for a job, a family living in a shack with barely any food, or starving, dirty children. “For those born after the 1930’s, the Great Depression is something that can be visualized only through photography and film (This Great Nation Will Endure)” and when asked “What picture do you think of when you hear the words the Great Depression Era?” all thirty high school students recalled a negative image. Today’s mass media’s selection of harsh extreme images of the 1930’s Great Depression Era fail to portray the positive aspects of American life during the time period.
...t. At one point, the land could be of use and now it was only hope that kept some residents there. Farmers needed to remain optimistic, courageous, and have faith that their lives would improve. During the Great Depression it seemed that the only choice many of these farmers had was to continue to plow and harvest. Leaving the Southern Plains meant being unemployed elsewhere, losing their homes, and still facing poverty. To many, staying there in the heart of the Dust Bowl was better than what they could expect anywhere else. Choices were scarce during the depression. The Dust bowl and its residents could be described as, “…a dead land—populated by defeated people who were plagued by drought and depression.” The defeated land caused by the people, would in return make the people feel defeated as the dust storms made living in the Southern Plains nearly unbearable.
They manage to find a way to feed and clothe themselves and stay warm together, always sticking up for one another, even with their parents seemingly doing everything in their willpower to stop them. Jeanette goes from the youngest writer on her school’s paper to a successful journalist in New York City, even going to Columbia University’s sister college (Columbia was an all boys school at the time) and graduating with a degree in journalism. They came from the worst circumstances, “He wrote back saying things in Welch were still going downhill. Dad was drunk all the time except when he was in jail; Mom had completely withdrawn into her own world; and Maureen was more or less living with the neighbors. The ceiling in the bedroom had collapsed, and Brian had moved his bed onto the porch. He made walls by nailing boards along the railings, but it leaked pretty badly out there, too, so he still slept under the inflatable raft.” (page 249) “When other girls came in and threw their lunch bags in the garbage pails, I’d go retrieve them. I couldn’t get over the way kids tossed out all this perfectly good food… there was, at times, more food than i could eat… i stuffed it into my purse to take home to Brian… I was pretty sure he was rooting through the trash, too, but we never talked about it.” (page 173) “‘Lori, what are you eating?’ ‘Margarine,’ she said. I wrinkled my nose. ‘Really?’ ‘Yeah,’ she said, ‘Mix it with sugar. Tastes just like frosting.’ I made some. It didn’t taste like frosting… but I ate it anyway. When Mom got home that evening, she looked in the refrigerator. ‘What happened to the stick of margarine?’ She asked. ‘We ate it,’ I said. Mom got angry… ‘It was the only thing to eat in the whole house,’ I said. Raising my voice, I added. ‘I was hungry.’” (page 68-69). They took this struggle and created
Throughout the book Letters From the Dust Bowl by Caroline Henderson, there was a common theme of survival. Everyone had a different way of coping with the disastrous events that came during The Great Depression. Some people had hope for the future, while others had given in to the dust and lost all hope or decided to leave. One of the only things that influenced people to stay, was the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), who offered checks to farmers willing to stop farming portions of their land. It was, “[I]n reality the only thing that [had] saved the country side from complete abandonment and the small towns from ruin,” (Henderson 158). Most of these people survived off of their hope and the belief that life would get better.
It led her to reflect on how she was living her life, and reminded her of the aspirations she had coming to New York. In the months that followed, she was uneasy, Jeanette couldn’t seem to accept the passing of her father. “ I found myself always wanting to be somewhere other than where I was. It took me a while to realize that just being on the move wasn’t enough : that I needed to reconsider everything” (280). Her father meant so much to her, now that he was gone she was loss and did not know how to move on. As a result, Jeanette realized that life on Park Avenue was not for her and decided to leave her husband, Eric. She carefully planned out her actions and reconsidered all aspects of her life. “ He was a good man, but not the right one for me. And Park Avenue was not where I belonged ” ( 281). Her relationship with Eric was good, she had a stable job and lived in a beautiful apartment on Park Avenue. However, when her Dad had passed, she became more self-aware and began making major decisions regarding her lifestyle. As time went by, Jeanette met her new husband, John. They invited the whole family for a Thanksgiving dinner at their new home. It had been five years since the death of Dad and she was now able to move on and find a closure for herself. She was strong enough to see her family which deeply reminded her of Dad. In contrast, Jeanette was now able to think of Dad in happiness. “We raised our glasses. I could almost hear Dad chuckling at Mom’s comment in the way I always did when he was truly enjoying something” (288). At dinner with all her family, she expresses her memories of her Dad in happiness, in which demonstrates her transition from grief to acceptance. Jeanette’s journey to accepting the passing of her father guided her through major changes in her life and sparked her to realise that the way she living was not right for
In conclusion, John Steinbeck describes the harshness of life in the Great Depression in his novels “The Grapes of Wrath” and “Of Mice and Men”. He talks about the difficulty of life during that decade. The three main ways Steinbeck does that is by: describing how the characters go to find a job, the brutality of the labor camps, and finally, the state of isolation the character are
"The Necklace" or "The Diamond Necklace" is a short story by Guy De Maupassant, first published on 17th, February 1884, in the French newspaper Le Gaulois. The story has become one of Maupassant's popular works and is well known for its ending. It is also the inspiration for Henry James's short story, "Paste". It has been dramatised as a musical by the Irish composer Conor Mitchell; it was first produced professionally by Thomas Hopkins and Andrew Jenkins for Surefire Theatrical Ltd at the Edinburgh Festival in 2007.
This short story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. It is unclear to the readers how the world got to be this way. This story takes place four years after all this chaos began. The narrator does an excellent job setting the scene throughout the story using lots of details. It is revealed throughout the story that it takes place during