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Finding My Voice Considering all of the novels/plays I have read this year in AP Lit, I connected the most with Skeeter from The Help. The Help is a novel that can stand the test of time. It not only taught me what African American life was like for a group of maids in the 1960s but also taught me that I can have a difference in the world by using my voice. Through watching each of the narrators grow as people, I was able to understand the impact that telling a story can have on an individual. Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter’s personalities meshed so well together that they were able to create a best-seller. By watching the town’s reaction to the stories, I learned that my opinion is valued and should be heard by others. It was interesting that …show more content…
Like Skeeter, I too am moving away to a bigger city to pursue an education. Although it was hard for her to leave her family, especially her mother, she knew it was the best thing to do for herself. In the past few years, I have learned what I need to do to benefit myself while not forgetting those that I love. As sad as it was for Skeeter to leave Mississippi, she knew that she was going to make a difference in the biggest city in the United States. Although it is on a bigger scale than me, I can still be related to Skeeter. When Skeeter was in high school, the only thing her mother wanted from her was for her to find the man of her dreams. Although she listened to her, she wasn’t as confident in herself as her mother was. It wasn’t until she was pushing herself through her book and realizing who she was that she finally got engaged to a man she admired dearly. I feel as if I relate to Skeeter finding her confidence in this way. I have definitely gained confidence through the past few years and hope to keep improving it as I move into college. I can’t say that I have reached every goal I have, but I can say that I am improving. Altogether, I have learned what it means to be
I am reviewing The Help by Kathryn Stockett.The Help is a powerful,truth-filled story set in the early 1960s in Jackson,Mississippi.It is a novel about black African American maids working in white households and being treated unfairly.
The novel The Help by Kathryn Stockett is a New York Time’s bestseller, and with good reason. This work explores and uncovers numerous amounts of topics other books and writers would shy away from. Such as, but not limited to, racism, discrimination, prejudice, and segregation in the South during the nineteen-sixties. It also examines the lives of multiple characters including Skeeter Phelan, a writer determined to expose the hidden lives of the black maids in her community, Minny Jackson and Aibileen Clark, two colored maids living in Jackson, Mississippi during this time period. In addition to that, this novel helps create a sense of clarity and understanding of the lives of the colored in the early stages of the Civil Rights movement. Also, this work contains numerous important plot points that help reel readers in, creating a whirlwind of events that anyone would be interested in. However, none of this would be important without the location this novel takes place. Being the south, Mississippi provides the perfect setting to help add more roadblocks to the quest of three women against the world.
I picked Miss Skeeter to write about, Miss Skeeter was raised in a home where she was brought up by a black woman as her nanny and maid of the house. For that era it was normal for kids to be raised that way. Miss Skeeter’s life was simple and she was rich, she didn’t know what it was like to need or want anything in life. She wasn’t exposed to many of the hardships that many of the black characters in the book suffer or go through. Her life was really good, she was fortunate to have all that she did. It wasn’t until she went away to college and spent some time away from her family and her friends influence. Miss Skeeter was the only one out of her friends that actually went away to college and was able to see the world through another viewpoint and I think that affected her, she was able to see what life is really about she realized what a privileged life she really did live.
Overall The Help is an amazing book by Kathryn Stockett. The three characters Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny all are different people. But somehow, they manage to become close friends. Or almost.
In my perspective, I thought that The Help by Katheryn Stockett was an exciting and special book which enhanced me views or race, class, and gender. This fantastic book gave me the thought of how life was like down in Mississippi during the 1960's. The Help gave me different standpoints and characteristics that had taken place with places still segregated by the color of their own skin. These viewpoints hit my mind that gave me the option to judge the book by how life was viewed upon by society in the past and present time.
*All in all I would say that this novel is definitely a good read. I found my self at times relating my own thoughts and experiences to that of the characters in the book. This is the very reason I would recommend that you give your class next semester the option of reading either this book or another. From my point of view, I think that most men can not relate to certain situations that occur, which lessens the overall significance of her writing.
I am a sophomore at Cathedral High School and throughout the school year I have read multiple novels, however only one novel stood out to me. The novel that stood out to me the most was Fahrenheit 451. The reason this book stood out to me was because of your character in the novel. Out of all the characters I have read about, only you have been a real hero to me. Your role as the hero in the novel Fahrenheit 451 was very riveting. It was inspiring to me how you stood up for your beliefs and saw that what society was doing was wrong. You were able to overcome actual obstacles in your way; instead of just running away from your problems before you tried to solve them. You were also able to make an enormous impact on your society by challenging the morals of those around you and by not letting others brainwash you and persuade you to give up on trying to stop the burning of books.
Kathryn Stockett's award-winning novel, The Help, is about three women in Mississippi whose determination to start a movement change the way people of different races view one another. Skeeter has just graduated with a degree and hopes to get a job with writing, but her mother is desperate to marry her off. Aibileen and Minny, two African American maids, have never thought of writing about racial issues until Skeeter approaches them with the idea of publishing a book documenting a black maid's life in the South. Together, the three women and a number of other maids secretly compile their working experiences, from humorous accounts to dangerous ones. I enjoyed reading The Help because Stockett uses humorous writing when applicable and a serious
Night is a dramatic book that tells the horror and evil of the concentration camps that many were imprisoned in during World War II. Throughout the book the author Elie Wiesel, as well as many prisoners, lost their faith in God. There are many examples in the beginning of Night where people are trying to keep and strengthen their faith but there are many more examples of people rebelling against God and forgetting their religion.
The day I moved away, a lot of things were going through my young mind. As I took my last look at my home, I remembered all the fun times I had with my family and friends through out my life. Now I was moving 800 miles away from all of that with no insight on what lied ahead for me. As my family and I drove away from our Michigan home, I looked out the window wondering what Virginia would be, and what my friends were doing. A lot of things were going through my mind at the time. At the time my main worry was if I would make any friends, and how I would adjust to everything. During the whole drive down, my mother would often let me know that everything would be all right and I would like it. Trying to be strong and hold back my tears, I just shook my head no, wondering why we had to move so far away. Life would be different for me and I knew it would.
... and I started to realize some of the good effects that moving has had. I now understand that this experience has changed me in positive ways as well. Soon I would have friends in different places in the world that I can visit. I would have many places where I could go and feel like home. Most importantly, I would learn that one can adapt to every town and its people and that friends can be made everywhere. Every place has its conveniences and its problems. Every town has its generous and heartless citizens.
Kathryn Stockett is one of the most outstanding writers out there to this day, and this is proven by many of the a awards she has won, including Oscars she has won, and surprisingly she had only written one book. Her book "The Help" is one of the most touching and moving books of our time, even though many can't relate to these stories, many can just feel the sadness and empathy for these women. This book has really opened my eyes about issues I haven't even noticed existed that poorly and due to this book it has made me change my perspective on many things I strongly believe about before. This book also shows you the lives of many African America women who only wanted an equal chance in society, but was not given the opportunity to be treated fairly or even civil like a person should be treated.
Therefore, I decided to attend UC Davis, which was seven hours away from my home. When I arrived at UC Davis, I noticed her depression started to worsen. Making it hard for me, but yet simple. She is my mom. I could not help to think I was to blame. I thought to myself, "What am I doing here? My mom needs me." I, then realized that she held it together because I was physically there to support her. I was her rock, but I was also seven hours away. Still, I did everything I could to help her. Calling her everyday was a part of my daily routine, as well as taking the bus home at least twice a month. Balancing school and family took a huge toll on me my freshman year, but I grew so much from
I lived with my Aunts during the week and my grandmother on the weekends. My grandmother lived in the inner city and my aunts wanted me to have a chance at a better education. So, they moved me to a new school district. It was a new environment, I was excited! New school, teachers, and friends. Opportunity was everywhere. The change was great, but it highlighted something I never noticed, I was different. My life was not like my friends, most were raised by parents, both or at least one. I on the other hand was the product of a village. That village is what gave me the strength to go into school each day, head high, eager to learn, and determined to
I had to mature quickly and learn how to take care of someone else besides myself. I am now a mother to four children. They have taught me how to have patience. This has become something I value very much. I have learned that in life you must wait for things. I now know that there was a reason why I had my son so early and wasn’t able to go to college upon graduating high school. I am so thankful that I had patience and waited for the right time to enter. It has been 14 years since I graduated high school, and I’m attending college and know exactly what I want to become. I had patience and took care of my babies at home before I decided to go to school. It hasn’t always been easy, but I’m so glad I