The story “My Favorite Chaperone” was written by Jean Davies Okimoto. The idea of this story is of a teenage girl that moved from Central Asia. Also, along the way they are challenged with everyday decisions the Americans make easily. When Maya goes to her new school she stumbles upon getting a dance permission slip. She thought it was just scrap and to just ignore the dance since she thought Papa and Mama wouldn’t approve. Later on, Nurzhan gets bullied and fights back while Maya get blamed on keeping an eye on him while they’re in different schools. Then it was Maya’s turn to get in trouble by getting picked up by an American boy for fun even though it wasn’t serious. She knew for sure she wouldn’t go to the dance. Her brother decided to
ask Mama and Papa if he could chaperone for Maya, surprisingly, Mama and Papa approved. In the end she goes to the dance and dances with her school crush with a bracelet her mother gave her to remind her that they are still getting used to the customs of America and there will be challenges.
Both Stephanie Coontz in “Great expectations” and Archena Bhalla in “My home, my world” address the issue about marriage and arranged marriages. While Stephanie mostly speaks on couples don’t make marriage their top priority and don’t last for a long time. And she gives an example by saying that “People nowadays don’t respect the marriage vowels.” She also believes that in the 18th and 19th centuries, conventional wisdom among middle-class men was the kind of woman you’d want for a wife was incapable of sexual passion which has changed in the 20th century. Also that marriage was viewed in the prospective that work relationship in which passion took second place to practicality and intimacy never was important with male. Bhalla speaks
How is the conflict in the story affected by the civil war? In the story Jayhawker by Patricia Beatty, a action story, the conflict is where Elijah Tulley is pulled to the fact where his father was killed and he wants his revenge. He goes as a Jayhawker to fight the bushwackers and he is put into a situation of war. He would have to go as a spy as a bushwhacker to understand. This is a affected by the civil war because one side wants slaves and the other doesn’t want slaves. They believe for freedom, so they will want to fight each other for one right.
The piece “The Old Man Isn 't There Anymore” by Kellie Schmitt is a passage showing that nobody really knows any other culture. In the passage Schmitt response to not seeing the old man anymore is to call the cleaning-lady to see what has happened to him and why all the neighbors were sobbing. “The old man isn 't there anymore” she replied, which I guessed it was her baby Chinese way of telling me he died” (Schmitt 107). Ceremonies can be very informational about the family member and their traditions, people should get more information about who the ceremony is for. The piece uses description, style, and support through out.
In the poem, “My First Weeks” by Sharon Olds, Olds makes an ordeal for her storyteller, gives her the recollections of this time we all might want to recall. The foundation of this piece has various pictures depicted so well they turn out to be outwardly captivating, and an all-inclusiveness of human experience. Regardless of whether the elocutionist’ owns particular experience was as delicate as the speakers or not, every one of us was conceived and (more than likely) can't remember our first weeks.
Another known regional writer from this time period is Mary Wilkins Freeman. Similar to Jewett, her texts use the New England geographical setting. Mary Wilkins Freeman’s short stories and novels are local color examples of the New England area in which she was born. Her works include the New England dialects and traits, components of the area’s Puritan roots, and portrayals of life in rural and penurious New England. During the time of Freeman’s writing, many farmers had begun to move west, particularly because of the spread of railroads. This caused the rural New England population to drop tremendously. Freeman’s protagonists are mainly elderly women or young women of marriageable age of families who remained behind in this New England post-Civil War setting.
In the novel Life of a Sensuous Woman, Ihara Saikaku depicts the journey of a woman who, due to voraciously indulging in the ever-seeking pleasure of the Ukiyo lifestyle, finds herself in an inexorable decline in social status and life fulfillment. Saikaku, utilizing characters, plot, and water imagery, transforms Life of a Sensuous Woman into a satirically critical commentary of the Ukiyo lifestyle: proposing that it creates a superficial, unequal, and hypocritical society.
'You sho' is one aggravatin' nigger woman!'; this is only one example of the abuse in Zora Neale Hurston's short story, 'Sweat'. Spousal abuse is a very common issue in today's society. Hurston represents this form of abuse through the way the husband talks to his wife and the way he treats her.
This article is a good example of how life would be like for a foreigner in a different country. Because the author talks about the Chinese culture, living space and funeral. The author uses a humorous tone to talk about her living in China. This story has great balance between humor and emotions. “The Old Man Isn’t There Anymore”, by Kellie Schmitt tells a beautiful tale of her experience of life in China.
The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick explores the causes and challenges of homelessness in today's youth. It highlights the struggles that a victim of homelessness would go through, such as finding a place to sleep every night, and finding a source of food and money. The Simple Gift also showed some causes of homelessness, which were demonstrated in the book through out the story.
In the story "Stolen Party" written by Liliana Heker, a girl’s dreams are shattered by the bitter reality of her destiny. Rosaura spends most of her time trying to convince her mother, as well as everyone at the birthday party, that being an educated girl makes her an equal to everyone at the party. She feels great determination to become a part of her friend Luciana’s lifestyle even though it would be rebelling against her mother’s wishes. Rosaura almost believes she has accomplished this feat until she is harshly brought back to reality and faced with her position in life once again. It will be an impossible struggle to overcome the class status that she was born into with the many factors against her.
A History of Marriage by Stephanie Coontz speaks of the recent idealization of marriage based solely on love. Coontz doesn’t defame love, but touches on the many profound aspects that have created and bonded marriages through time. While love is still a large aspect Coontz wants us to see that a marriage needs more solid and less fickle aspects than just love.
The story Another Evening at the club by Alifa Rifaat is a short story that takes place in Egypt. It revolves around a newly wed couple consisting of an overbearing husband and a submissive wife. The main conflict of the story deals with the misplacement of an emerald ring. As the couple resolve this prove their true colors are reveled. Exposing the strong presence of a male dominate marriage and society. This story illustrates the role of women in a typical Egyptian marriage. Where the man is the decision maker, and the woman is submissive to her husband. The main reoccurring themes in this story is of gender oppression, sexual assault, and importance of social status.
This book is a study of the personal tales of many single mothers, with intentions to understand why single mothers from poor urban neighborhoods are increasingly having children out of wedlock at a young age and without promise of marrying their fathers. The authors chose to research their study in Philadelphia’s eight most devastated neighborhoods, where oppression and danger are high and substantial job opportunities are rare. They provide an excellent education against the myth that poor young urban women are having children due to a lack of education on birth control or because they intend to work the welfare system. Instead, having children is their best and perhaps only means of obtaining the purpose, validation and companionship that is otherwise difficult to find in the areas in which they live. For many of them, their child is the biggest promise they have to a better future. They also believe that though their life may not have been what they want, they want their child to have more and better opportunities and make it their life’s work to provide that.
Kate Fitzgerald, a strong, brave, caring, but very ill teenager. At only 16 she is battling a rare form of leukemia. Kate may not tell this story but her cancer is the heart of this novel. Anna Fitzgerald (her younger sister) was conceived as a “donor baby” so that Kate could receive things like blood transfusions and platelets. In a turn of events Anna refuses to donate the kidney that Kate needs to survive, With Kate’s health deteriorating the family goes on an uphill battle with self-growth in all characters. Kate growth seems to be the most recognizable and occurs because of three major events. These events are Anna refusing to give up a kidney, the trial for medical emancipation, and a tragic death at the end of the novel.
There are many themes that occur and can be interpreted differently throughout the novel. The three main themes that stand out most are healing, communication, and relationships.