Life is shaped and changed drastically by decisions made in youth, and writers are able to display examples through their words and stories. Whether it be a positive or negative change, small impacts early on lead to large deviations in the choices one will make. The short stories “Wild Plums” by Grace Stone Coates and “Apollo” by Chimamanda Adichie, both display how simple decisions in the narrators' lives forged them into stronger people throughout the beginning, middle, and end of each story. In the stories, both narrators begin the story sheltered and uneducated about the lifestyles of others, leaving them curious. The unnamed narrator in “Wild Plums” describes an early experience in her life as, “The first time was when Sunday-school women …show more content…
Similarly, in “Apollo,” the climax of the story arrives in the final few sentences, leaving the narrator with a drastically altered outlook on life. After falling and fearing embarrassment after Raphael was acting cold towards him, he: “stayed on the ground, a stone sunk in my knee. ‘Raphael pushed me.’. I could have taken back my lie and left my parents merely to wonder” (Adichie, 254). At the end of the story, Okenwa makes a rash decision to lie, saying that Raphael shoved him to the floor. Okenwa’s family takes his side, becoming furious with Raphael, promptly removing Raphael as a caretaker from their household. However, as the narrator grows older, he begins to resent his decision, wishing that he had told the truth and became closer with Raphael. This story serves as an example that making hasty decisions while upset could lead to regret later on, encouraging the reader to think with a level head. Although both stories end abruptly, they are still able to convey important messages to the reader regarding decisions made in one's own life, potentially enriching the experiences and knowledge of the
Both Saturday Climbing and mirror image are stories of dealing with changes in life. In Saturday Climbing an overprotective father struggles to let her daughter make decisions for herself as she grows up and in Mirror Image a teenage girl with a recent brain transplant surgery struggles with sudden change in identity. The protagonists have different kinds of attitudes about change: in The two stories have similarities and differences between how the protagonists approach these differences.
The author Wes Moore dad was a hard worker and he had dreams & goals set for the future. The other Wes’s parents didn’t have as much drive and ambition. The other Wes’s dad walked out on him and his mother was left to work jobs just to provide for the family. Author Wes’s parents ambitions rubbed off onto him and his mother’s love for education drove her to push Wes academically. The two mothers had different expectations and ambitions for their sons. The other Wes states “‘We will do what others expect of us, Wes said. If they expect us to graduate we will graduate. If they expect us to get a job, we will get a job. If they expect us to go to jail, we will go to jail.” (Moore 126). The expectation the families had on both Wes’s shaped who they were and that influenced the decisions they made, that caused their lives to end up so
Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer – An Introduction to Short Fiction. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. Print.
In high school, it is important to read stories that teach the students lessons, teach them different literary devices, and allow them to discuss the story among peers to gain different views. Kevin A. González’s “Wake” and Laura van den Berg’s “Volcano House” are two stories that teach valuable lessons and offer new information for those trying to learn through stories. Both authors wrote short stories that were meant to entertain students while offering them a valuable lesson as well. Kevin A. González’s “Wake” and Laura van den Berg’s “Volcano House” are both short stories that should be taught in high school classes because of their lessons, the use of literary devices, and what can be gained from class discussion.
Parents are always supposed to look out for the best interests of their child. Anne Tyler authored the short story “Teenage Wasteland” which depicts the strained mother and son relationship between the character Donny, and his mother Daisy. Donny is a teenage boy who is struggling with his grades at school and is exhibiting poor behavior. His mother Daisy is concerned with her son’s grades and behavior, however, she fails at getting her son the help that he requires. Told through a third person point of view through the character of Daisy, Tyler uses irony to tell the story of a teenage boy who is failed by the adults in his life who are supposed to help him flourish, including his parents, a psychologist, and his tutor.
Although, Chris McCandless may be seen as stupid and his ideals uncanny, he gave up everything to follow his heart he escaped the world that would have changed him, he wrote his own tale to feel free, and he left a conformist world to indulge in true happiness. How many people would just give up their lives, family, material goods, to escape into a world of perfect solitude and peace; not many and Chris was one of those that could and he became and inspiration. “The idea of free personality and the idea of life as sacrifice” (187).
Within every story or poem, there is always an interpretation made by the reader, whether right or wrong. In doing so, one must thoughtfully analyze all aspects of the story in order to make the most accurate assessment based on the literary elements the author has used. Compared and contrasted within the two short stories, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, and John Updike’s “A&P,” the literary elements character and theme are made evident. These two elements are prominent in each of the differing stories yet similarities are found through each by studying the elements. The girls’ innocence and naivety as characters act as passages to show something superior, oppression in society shown towards women that is not equally shown towards men.
When looking into works of literature, some stories seem to be similar to others. They can have a similar setting, point of view, theme, or sense of language and style. However, all of these points could be very different as well and could cover different theme or style. Flannery O’Conner’s “Good Country People” and Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” have some contrasting elements, such as their points of view and use of symbolism, but their similarities in the underlying theme, language, and the setting of these stories reveal how these two stories are impacted by education on both the individual and their family.
“Into The Wild” by John Krakauer is a non-fiction biographical novel which is based on the life of a young man, Christopher McCandless. Many readers view Christopher’s journey as an escape from his family and his old life. The setting of a book often has a significant impact on the story itself. The various settings in the book contribute to the main characters’ actions and to the theme as a whole. This can be proven by examining the impact the setting has on the theme of young manhood, the theme of survival and the theme of independent happiness.
Throughout life, people face obstacles. The time and type of such events can determine a person’s character, outlook and their goals in life. “Walking Out” was about a young boy who takes a vacation with his father which turns tragic because of a gun accident. The author of “Walking Out”, David Quammen moved to Montana in the early 1970’s; there has been no indication that the author and the boy depicted in the story are the same person. Some parallels might be assumed with both the character and author having the same name; both men grew up near big cities and venture into the back country to get away from life. Both also do not enjoy the lifestyle at first, but come to enjoy it. In David Quammen’s Walking Out, David and his father venture
In John Updike’s short story, A&P the writer takes you on a youths memory that involves the choices and consequences that life can deal to anyone who has not had time to test a rash decision. The narrator is an immature nineteen-year-old cashier who is about to make a giant leap from adolescence to manhood. Sammy narrates with opinions of not only his life, but also the people in the town. Sammy opposes with the way these people live their lives, and is determined to set a different course for his future. The author uses characterization, symbolism, and setting to explain Sammy's life issues such as decision-making, result of action, and responsibility. The story illustrates that part of growing up is about making choices and a willingness to accept consequences of one’s own choices.
In the story “Two Kinds”, the author, Amy Tan, intends to make reader think of the meaning behind the story. She doesn’t speak out as an analyzer to illustrate what is the real problem between her and her mother. Instead, she uses her own point of view as a narrator to state what she has experienced and what she feels in her mind all along the story. She has not judged what is right or wrong based on her opinion. Instead of giving instruction of how to solve a family issue, the author chooses to write a narrative diary containing her true feeling toward events during her childhood, which offers reader not only a clear account, but insight on how the narrator feels frustrated due to failing her mother’s expectations which leads to a large conflict between the narrator and her mother.
“Everett was strange, “Sleight concedes. “kind of different. But him and McCandless, at least they tried to follow their dream. That’s what was great about them. They tried. Not many do.” (67) John Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, briefly makes a comparison between two young boys Chris McCandless and Everett Ruess and fills the reader with different perspectives about them and their experiences. While the author wrote about McCandless he is reminded of Ruess and his book Everett Ruess: A Vagabond for Beauty written by W.L. Rusho and it sparked an interesting comparison between the two. The use of storytelling and letters about McCandless and the use of Artwork, letters,
Roxane Gay compares Katniss in The Hunger Games to herself in a personal story to show the difference between surviving something and being strong. She also use them to argue against Meghan Cox Gurdon’s thesis that young readers should not be subjected to the darkness and pain that Young Adult fiction usually offers.
... Khan paved the way for his grandsons by dividing his empire I to khanates before he died, and leaving his grandsons to rule them after he dies. Without Genghis Khan, the world world be different in unimaginable ways.