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Narrative of childhood
Narrative of childhood
Narrative of childhood
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Reading The Light
The story that is most significant to me is “Reading the Light'; by Roger Pfingston. This story felt like it was written from the heart. It is filled with emotions, ones that the author caught in his story very well. Even though I could not empathize with Brian, I did feel sympathetic towards him. When David said to Brian, “Is it really such a surprise? I’m sure you know that your mother and I haven’t been the best of friends lately.'; (6), that was a shock to me. David did not seem to be sympathetic towards his son; instead he made it sound like it had happened and that there was nothing that could be done about it. At the end of the story, David, Maria and Brian went to the park where the author stated “The three of them stood huddled in the glare of ice and sun.'; (7) My heart sank. They just stood there accepting that their family was breaking up. I thought that Roger Pfingston wrote this story from his heart. I was able to put myself in Brian’s place and actually feel how I thought he would feel.
The story that stretched my imagination the most was “Charles'; by Shirley Jackson. Even though children have wild imaginations, it did not occur to me that a child in kindergarten would tell such an elaborate lie. When I looked back in the story, I found the spot where I think that Laurie first started to tell his lie. “The teacher spanked a boy, though, ... For being fresh'; was Laurie’s replay to his mother asking him what happened in school. “Laurie thought. “It was Charles';'; (14) When I reread this I thought that this was where Laurie decided to put on his act. I know that young children are capable of a lot of things, and some times they go unnoticed, like Laurie’s charade. This story seemed to be more like a fairy tale.
The Story that I think I will remember the longest is “Another April'; by Jesse Stuart. This story found a soft spot in my heart. I thought it was indescribable how much Grandpa enjoyed life. Grandpa was acting like an anxious little kid “Don’t get ’em, I won’t ketch cold.'; (37) Grandpa seemed to be filled with life. He waited every year to go out and be among the world.
Tommy is bored by his small town with its “ordinary lesson, complete with vocabulary and drills,” at school (p. 46, l. 137), and his mom not listening about his day, “Did you hear me?...You have chores to do.” (p. 58, l. 477-479) Everyone knows everyone else in Five Oaks. In comes Mrs. Ferenczi talking about things he and his classmates had never heard of before. Things like a half bird-half lion called a Sryphon, Saturn and its mysterious clouds, and sick dogs not drinking from rivers but waiting for rain all in one lesson (p. 55-56, l. 393-403). Ideas never stop coming and they branch out from each other before they are properly explained. Most of the kids feel she lies, but Tommy joins her in …. (Write here about how Tommy begins to make up stories like Mrs. F.) Think of the progression: looks-up “Gryphon” in the dictionary….makes-up “Humpster “ story….”sees” unusual trees on the bus ride home….yells at & fights
War was one of the most difficult and brutal things a society could ever go through. World War II was especially terrible because it affected so many people.World War II was centered in Europe and the people of the European countries felt the effects much more than many of the other countries that were also participating in the world war. In the book All the Light We Cannot See written by Anthony Doerr, the story took place during World War II in Europe, the center stage for the war. This war was one of the most difficult wars because it destroyed homes, displaced thousands, tore families apart, killed off loved ones, and forced people to make tough decisions they had to live with for the rest of their lives. In All The Light We Cannot See,
Out of the three wonderful narratives given, the best one is “Stepping Into the Light” by Tanya Savory. While “Shame” by Dick Gregory is an interesting read, it is the weakest out of the bunch. The story had no clear setting, to many extra details, and a lengthy exposition. “I Became Her Target” by Roger Wilkins was a better executed story, even though it still had some flaws. This piece lacks any figurative language, but it was to the point and had clear organization. Thus, Tanya Savory’s piece was the best. It was easy to follow, used a constant symbol, and used some stories from others to make her point. So using narrative styles and elements in the best way, Tanya Savory wrote the better story.
Epiphany in Astronomer’s Wife, When I consider how my light is spent and Everything That Rises Must Converge
In life, stories are an essential component of human survival and success. Stories enable people’s legacies to continue even when they pass away. Also, stories allow the storyteller freedom to share what he chooses to. The significance of stories is demonstated throughout literary works. Some works that show the significance of stories include, The Things They Carried, The Big Fish, “The Evolutionary Case for Great Fiction” and “For Better Social Skills, Scientists Recommend a Little Chekhov.” Stories are an essential aspect to human life because of their ability to keep memories alive as they aid man in coping with death and post-traumatic stress. Also, stories play an important role in many different areas ranging from the survival of a species to preparation for a job interview.
There is a never ending list of what makes some people amazing story tellers. Some writers have vast imaginations, other writers use the lives of others in their stories and other writers use their lived experiences in order to write moving works of art. Most books, works of poetry and short stories that revolve around lived experiences share a common theme of love, hate or both. As these are emotions that all humans share, However, there are some stories that have far more unique. Stories like “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien and “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway. Both O’Brien and Hemingway come from two completely separate walks of life but were both able to write stories using the same theme of emotional and physical
As shown in the two short stories children are seen to be innocent and “precious” incapable of deception (Wilson 178). The two pieces of literature clearly invalidates that belief that children are incapable of deception. In “The Open Window” Vera showed deception when she lied to her aunt why Framton Nuttel had left the house by saying “He told me he had a horror of dogs. He was once hunted into a cemetery somewhere on the banks of the Ganges by a pack of pariah dogs, and had to spend the night in a newly dug grave with the creatures snarling and grinning and foaming just above him. Enough to make anyone lose their nerve.”(Saki 254). Likewise in “Charles” Laurie showed deceptio...
Short stories are temporary portals to another world; there is a plethora of knowledge to learn from the scenario, and lies on top of that knowledge are simple morals. Langston Hughes writes in “Thank You Ma’m” the timeline of a single night in a slum neighborhood of an anonymous city. This “timeline” tells of the unfolding generosities that begin when a teenage boy fails an attempted robbery of Mrs. Jones. An annoyed bachelor on a British train listens to three children their aunt converse rather obnoxiously in Saki’s tale, “The Storyteller”. After a failed story attempt, the bachelor tries his hand at storytelling and gives a wonderfully satisfying, inappropriate story. These stories are laden with humor, but have, like all other stories, an underlying theme. Both themes of these stories are “implied,” and provide an excellent stage to compare and contrast a story on.
The first selection of mine was a short story called "The Friday Everything Changed" by Anne Hart. The changes in this story are good in a woman’s point of view. The author Anne Hart talks about her school years in this short story. She talks about how a girl in her class asked a question that changed their lives forever. The question her friend Niles asked was "Why can’t girls go for the water, too?"1. In those days getting the water for the class was a boy’s job. To go out every Friday, to fill the bucket up with water, and bring it back to class. This showed that you were strong, and you also got to have some fun missing half an hour of class. Because the boy’s felt threatened by this question, they started bugging and picking on the girls to make them change their minds. But the girls didn’t, and that is what changed their lives. At the end the teacher did let the girls go for the water, and that was a big change for the girls in those days. To show that they can do what the boys can do. Now the girls also get to miss class getting the water and not only the boys. This short story had a humorous tone to it. For example when the author say’s "are you trying to be saucy , alma?"2 and "Alma threw a bombshell of her own,"3 etc.
The cause and effect relationships in “The Tell-Tale heart” by Edgar Allen Poe and “The Monkeys Paw” by W.W Jacobs create a feeling of suspense. Others should care because; these stories show the reader that one should live a life without reacting on bad thoughts and greed. It also shows the reader that do something bad could be a lifelong effect. These are great stories about crime, death, and love. The characters in these stories are left with deadly secrets and a feeling of loneliness, not knowing if they will see their loved ones again, or face what they have done and move
2. The memoir that I feel is most difficult to relate to me is Mama's Girl by Veronica Chambers. The author is seems too chaste to be true. I guess in her time, teenage sexuality was nearly accepted as much as it is now. When I was reading this memoir, I felt that some of the comments were somewhat derogatory towards a certain race. I did not appreciate her mentality when she said: "…black women were strong and did not get depressed. Depression was white girls' domain." It is completely inaccurate to say a specific group has certain characteristics. That is stereotyping and was one of the major reasons that I could not relate to this memoir. I guess the main purpose of this memoir was to expose human thought in its confused, distorted state.
“Although tragedy and loss are regrettable commonplace, we aren’t measured by what happens to us but rather by how we respond to it” written by Steve Pemberton in A Chance in the World. This is my favorite quote from the novel. A Chance in the World was an eye opening book for me to read, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Many things stood out to me in the book, one being that each chapter would start with a quote from a different book, and that related back to how much books saved his life. Another thing that stood out to me was how throughout the chapter he would ask himself questions, and those questions were never answered but it was like he was sharing his thoughts with reader. The reason these book was eye opening was because my father, gave up his parental rights at age five because of drugs, and even though our situations are only slightly similar hearing his story and how he overcame all his struggles made me realize how I can get over my own problems with the past. The novel was a tear jerker from reading how the Robinsons abused him, how he first struggled with college and how each side of his family had so much pain and sorrow. Steve Pemberton overcame every
One story that I significantly enjoyed reading was about Kent, an individual that suffers/has/is labeled as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). ADHD is more prevalent than ever in the schools and is a hot topic with educators and parents. I can even relate to it on a personal level because one of the boys I nanny for is now in the first grade, and
I read two different short stories, both of which that had very valuable lessons and unique story lines. One short story did not interest me much, but the other one did. Both of these short stories had themes, they both had the theme of tradition and appearance. Even though both of these short stories are somewhat true, I found a great interest and value in The Necklace. The other short story was The Lottery which was the one that did not interest me much or give me any sense of value or a life lesson.
I chose to write about the story “Shiloh” by Bobbie Ann Mason, “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara and Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes. I chose these works because all of them are about values, morals, beliefs and custom culture. The story “Shiloh” is about a community / couple who discover that they had different values, morals and beliefs; “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara is about a teacher who tries to facilitate the youth in her community and Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes questions one’s values and offer suggestions for the effects of delaying values.