On May 17, 1939, in Minneapolis, MN Oscar and Eunice Paulsen had a son. Little did they Know their son Gary Paulsen would become one of the best know American authors. His life was full of ups and downs, but instead of letting the bad thing keep him down, he used his writing skills to write over 200 books. This paper will tell you about Gary Paulsen’s life history, what influences him and his books a people thought about him.
For many authors school came easy, but this was not true for Gary. As a young child Paulsen was never at the same school for more than 5 months. He struggled through school, graduating in 1957 from Thief River Falls High School (MN) with a D- average. After high school, he attended Bemidji College in Minnesota. To help pay his way through college he was a trapper. After two years of college he would drop out and join the Army.
Most people’s childhood is the best time of their life, but Gary Paulsen Childhood was not a blast, it was miserable. He didn’t have very many friends because he was moving all the time. People would describe him as an unbelievably shy p...
Throughout the autobiographical narrative written by Gary Soto, many different literary elements are used to recreate the experience of his guilty six-year old self. Different elements such as contrast, repetition, pacing, diction, and imagery. Soto narrates this story as a young boy at a time when he seems to be young and foolish, Soto foolmaking mistakes, but at the same time hoping to learn from them. Soto uses each of these devices to convey different occurrences in the narrative.
Throughout history, America has produced some of the greatest writers to walk the earth. Novels, poems, plays, and short stories have captivated the American public. No one was better at enchanting his audience than John Cheever. John Cheever wrote many short stories throughout his life. He has been presented with many awards for his works. Cheever was a master of spinning tales about suburban life and other situations he experienced. Some of his most popuar works included “The Swimmer”, “O Youth and Beauty!”, and “The Enormous Radio”. His works were well received by the public and he achieved great fame during his lifetime. However, he also lived a life of hardship and scandal. Even after his death in 1982, Cheever is remembered as one of the greatest writers in American history.
In John Connolly’s novel, The Book of Lost Things, he writes, “for in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be”. Does one’s childhood truly have an effect on the person one someday becomes? In Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle and Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, this question is tackled through the recounting of Jeannette and Amir’s childhoods from the perspectives of their older, more developed selves. In the novels, an emphasis is placed on the dynamics of the relationships Jeannette and Amir have with their fathers while growing up, and the effects that these relations have on the people they each become. The environment to which they are both exposed as children is also described, and proves to have an influence on the characteristics of Jeannette and Amir’s adult personalities. Finally, through the journeys of other people in Jeannette and Amir’s lives, it is demonstrated that the sustainment of traumatic experiences as a child also has a large influence on the development of one’s character while become an adult. Therefore, through the analysis of the effects of these factors on various characters’ development, it is proven that the experiences and realities that one endures as a child ultimately shape one’s identity in the future.
In the essay written by Gary Nash, he argues that the reason for the American Revolution was not caused by the defense of constitutional rights and liberties, but that of “material conditions of life in America” were not very favorable and that social and economic factors should be considered as the driving factor that pushed many colonists to revolt. The popular ideology which can be defined as resonating “most strongly within the middle and lower strata of society and went far beyond constitutional rights to a discussion of the proper distribution of wealth and power in the social system” had a dynamic role in the decisions of many people to revolt. The masses ideas were not of constitutional rights, but the equal distribution of wealth in the colonies that many felt that the wealth was concentrated in a small percentage of the population in the colonies. The Whig ideology that was long established in English society had a main appeal towards the upper class citizens and “had little to say about changing social and economic conditions in America or the need for change in the future.” The popular ideologies consisted of new ways of changing the distribution of wealth. Nash in his essay continued to give good evidence to prove his point that the American Revolution was not caused by the defense of constitutional rights and liberties, but by improper distribution of wealth. During the pre-American Revolutionary times, the “top five percent of Boston’s taxpayers controlled 49 ...
...parents were much more successful in the working world encouraged him to complete many daily activities such as choir and piano lessons. His parents engaged him in conversations that promoted reasoning and negotiation and they showed interest in his daily life. Harold’s mother joked around with the children, simply asking them questions about television, but never engaged them in conversations that drew them out. She wasn’t aware of Harold’s education habits and was oblivious to his dropping grades because of his missing assignments. Instead of telling one of the children to seek help for a bullying problem she told them to simply beat up the child that was bothering them until they stopped. Alex’s parents on the other hand were very involved in his schooling and in turn he scored very well in his classes. Like Lareau suspected, growing up
Kinnamon, Keneth. The Emergence of RIchard Wright: A Study in Literature and Society. 1973. Reprint, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1972.
No black school was available locally so he was forced to move. He said "Good-bye" to his adopted parents, Susan and Moses, and headed to Newton County in southwest Missouri. Here is where the path of his education began. He studied in a one-room schoolhouse and worked on a farm to pay for it. He ended up, shortly after, moving with another family to Fort Scott in Kansas. In Kansas, he worked as a baker in a kitchen while he attended the High School. He paid for his schooling with the money he earned from winning bake-off contests. From there he moved all over bouncing from school to school. "College entrance was a struggle again because of racial barriers."2 At the age of thirty he gained acceptance to Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.
The character of Roy Eberhardt in Hoot by Carl Hiaasen is shaped by his social environment, which consists of his friends. Even as mostly an inexperienced person, I can, without reluctance, say I’ve had friends who affected me both positively and negatively. In Roy Eberhardt’s case, the author makes it evident that his friends -- Beatrice Leep and Mullet Fingers -- did not, in fact, impact him in a detrimental way, but instead in a more constructive way. His friends taught Roy Eberhardt to become more mature and develop his character as a young individual.
Describe a Significant Historical Event or Personal Experience That Occurred during the Authors life that may have had an Influence upon his writing.
I have known Gary a much shorter time than Scot, as you may be able to guess from my youthful good looks and boyish charm. And since I didn't know Gary at school, I've had to rely on his own version of events regarding his education. From this, I gathered that Gary was an exceptionally gifted student and he excelled in almost everything he did, be it sports, academics or the arts, and he left school to the great sadness of his headmaster
...at last seeing the harsh reality of the world and not the fairytale he was used to. It is unfortunate that he flung himself wholeheartedly into his adulthood because he now has to face the painful realization that youth is a gift which protects those innocent ‘heart[s]’ from a world of troubles. John Grady’s heart was not that lucky. It craved the surreal adventure and got more than a spoonful of life.
“ I have always had a sense that we are all pretty much alone in life, particularly in adolescent. People always ask me the role models that I am providing for kids, and I say I can’t be concerned with that. I’m not worried about corrupting youth. I’m worrying about writing realistically and truthfully to affect the reader.”- Robert Cormier. Cormier is an author known for his negative novels such as “The Chocolate War” and “I am the Cheese”. He knew from the start that he wanted to become a writer. In all his work he likes to display the cold truth instead of making a joyful ending in everything resembling most books. The aspiration of all his books are all the conditions going on his kids lives. Robert Cormier’s childrens teenage lives influenced
Foster, Edward, ed. Six American Novelists of the Nineteenth Century. Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis Press, 1968.
Unger, Leonard ed. American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies. 7 vols. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1974.
'' Through a goof deal is too strange to be believed, nothing is too strange to have happened.'' Thomas Hardy Poet, Author of the 20th century. He was the most recognized author of the Victorian era and known primarily as a novelist. Hardy is known as a gifted poet. As a poet, Thomas was best known for Love, passion, and the unexpected. Thomas was known for many accomplishments through his life.