The rural southern town of Wrongberight, Virginia has a population of eighty-seven and yesterday they all sat on lawn chairs in front of the one-room schoolhouse to witness the High School Graduation Ceremony, of the Class of 1965, which consisted of only one student, Homer Gilmore. Before, Sally P. Strong, the Principal, presented him with his diploma, she addressed those in attendance – As y’all know Homer is the first student in the history of Wrongberight to ever, attend college and it is no secret that Princeton University selected him as the recipient for their Falkner Creative Writing Scholarship. At that moment, everyone stood and made such a ruckus that the cows in the pastures, the pigs in their pens and the horses in the fields
It is an emotional and heart-rending chronicle about raising in the dirt-poor of the Alabama hills--and all about moving on with the life but never actually being capable to leave (Bragg, 1997, p. 183). The exceptional blessing for evocation and thoughtful insight and the dramatic voice for the account--notifying readers that author has gained a Pulitzer Award for this featured writing. It is a wrenching account of his own upbringing and family. The story moves around a war haunted, alcoholic person (Bragg's father) and a determined and loving mother who made hard efforts to safeguard her children from the harsh effects of poverty and ignorance, which has constricted her own living standard. In this account, author was talented enough to create for himself on the strength of his mother's support and strong conviction. He left house only to follow his dreams and pursue a respectable career in life, however he is strongly linked to his ancestry. In addition, the memoir shows the efforts of Bragg in which he has both compensated and took revenge from the cruelties of his early childhood. Author's approach towards his past seems quite ambivalent and
Griffin strikes all of these aspects in her essay. What is most compelling about the essay, however, is the way Griffin incorporated personal, family, and world history into a chilling story of narrative and autobiography, without ever losing the factual evidence the story provided. The chapter reads like an entire novel, which helps the audience to understand the concepts with a clear and complete view of her history, not needing to read any other part of the book. Two other authors, Richard Rodriguez, and Ralph Ellison, who write about their experiences in life can possibly be better understood as historical texts when viewed through the eyes of Griffin. Rodriguez explores his own educational history in his essay “The Achievement of Desire” and Ralph Ellison depicts his own journeys and personal growth in his essay, “An Extravagance of Laughter”. Both essays, which when seen through Susan Griffin’s perspective, can be reopened and examined from a different historical view, perhaps allowing them to be understood with a more lucid view of history and what it is really about.
Sitcoms like The Simpsons, are used to show that the traditional family is not what it is played out to be on other shows like Father Knows Best, The Jetsons and Leave it to Beaver. The Simpsons challenges and upholds the traditional sitcom while representing the American nuclear family as a unique and lovable family. Like most shows that come out of Hollywood, The Simpsons is pro-Democrat and against Republican views. This show suggests that not following the traditional family roles will you give you a happier life. Gender roles are often used in the show to demonstrate masculinity and femininity. Through satire and parody, The Simpsons addresses gender roles and the typical problems and behavior of an average American family.
Jefferson, Thomas. “From Notes on the State of Virginia.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, Bonnie Lisle. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010. 378-383.
O'Connor, Flannery. Good Country People. Literature an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, And Drama. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Longman. 2002. (247-261)
Natasha Tretheway’s Native Guard was published in 2006 and contains many poems about her childhood in the Deep South during the Civil War era. Her poem “Incident” tells a story that has seemingly been passed down in her family for generation. The poem can be interpreted to tell the story of the Ku Klux Klan burning a cross in the speaker’s yard. The variations in repetition that Tretheway uses throughout the poem shows that although the details of a story can change, the idea of racial intolerance prevails regardless of what version of the story is told.
O'Connor, Frank. "Guests of the Nation." Literature for Composition. 4th ed. Sylvan Barnet, et. al. New York: Harper Collins, 1996. 590-598.
Steiner, George, and Fagles, Robert, eds. Homer: A Collection of Critical Essays. Twentieth Century Views, ed. Maynard Mack. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice Hall, 1962.
As an example of the lessons learned from family members, Laurel tells the story of how her father requested that a group of Mennonites paint his porch. When asked by one of her troop members, “why… would someone pick a porch?” (51). Laurel quotes her father’s answer, “it was the only time he’d have a white man on his knees doing something for a black man for free” (51). This is telling of the overall perception of race relations that these girls have been indoctrinated with. These indirect lessons, while most likely not meant to be an education of frustration and hostility towards Caucasians, is the foundation for the events of ZZ Packers’ “Brownies”. An example of the latent racism festering within Laurel and her troop is portrayed through the flippant, demeaning or derogatory manner that the word Caucasian is used by them and their
Steiner, George, and Fagles, Robert, eds. Homer: A Collection of Critical Essays. Twentieth Century Views, ed. Maynard Mack. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice Hall, 1962.
While thinking about what problem at Harper to address which affects a large amount of the student body, a conversation with a writing tutor made me realise that a problem most of the population had experienced was registration, orientation and transitioning from high school to college. I thought of possible reasons why the transition was difficult for so many people, then I thought about my own experience and how bumpy it had been from registering online to dealing with paying for classes and financial aid.
Greenfield begins his article by describing an account at the University of Oklahoma where a group of fraternity members where not punished for chanting harsh and racist comments in a viral video. He uses this story-telling strategy to appeal to the character of the reader by directly quoting the frat boys who
Steiner, George, and Fagles, Robert, eds. Homer: A Collection of Critical Essays. Twentieth Century Views, ed. Maynard Mack. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice Hall, 1962.
The Dead Poets Society demonstrates a perfect example of how home life effects a student’s education. Neil, one of the main characters in this film, attends a prep school which is beyond strict, an all-male school. However, John Keating, a new English teacher that has his own unique ways of getting his point across during his lessons, is not just a teacher but a new light to his students. Keating uses unusual analogies that ...
Haley, Alex and Malcolm X. “Saved.” Reading and Writing the College Experience. Huron Valley Publishing: Ypsilanti, 2003. 203 – 214.