The moral of the story “Phoenix Farm” by Yolen, is “sometimes its better to rise up out of the ashes singing”. (Yolen 131)If you don’t know about the story, it’s pretty short but interesting, and still makes you question things at the end of the story. The story Phoenix Farm starts off with the narrator and her family’s house burns down during the great depression. Prior to this incident, the father left them, and according to the narrator he is dead. (To them at least) The fire forces the narrator’s family to move to their grandmother’s house. Before the narrator leaves the charred house, she finds an egg of some sort on the stairs, which seemed to be untouched by the flames, and has an odd red streak on it. The egg soon hatches at the grandmother’s
Farming the Home Place: A Japanese American community in California 1919-1982 by Valerie J. Matsumoto presents a close and in-depth study of social and culture history of Cortez, a small agricultural settlement located in San Joaquin valley in California. Divided into six chapter, the book is based primarily on the oral interviews responses from eighty three members of Issei, Nisei, and Sansei generations. However, many information are also obtained from the local newspapers, community records, and World War II concentration camp publications.
The Europeans changed the land of the home of the Indians, which they renamed New England. In Changes in the Land, Cronon explains all the different aspects in how the Europeans changed the land. Changing by the culture and organization of the Indians lives, the land itself, including the region’s plants and animals. Cronon states, “The shift from Indian to European dominance in New England entailed important changes well known to historians in the ways these peoples organized their lives, but it also involved fundamental reorganizations less well known to historians in the region’s plant and animal communities,” (Cronon, xv). New England went through human development, environmental and ecological change from the Europeans.
“This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys”(Fitzgerald 2). Tom and Nick a driving through a place between West Egg and New York, which is an industrial zone where the lower class lives. Here alone we can see how the poor class lives their daily lives in filth, but the rich live in shiny clean houses.
In the short story, A Worn Path, phoenix Jackson faces some difficult challenges on her way to Natchez a town that is on the other side of a river. It’s a cold December day and Phoenix is walking to town as she does every year. Phoenix gets her apron caught in a thorn bush. Phoenix gets scared just a little bit but soon she gets herself unhooked from the thorn bush. Later on down the road Phoenix comes upon an open field that looks as if death has passed through. On a tree their sat a buzzard just waiting for something to happen so it can eat. Phoenix tells the bird to go away because she isn’t dead just yet. Phoenix Jackson then goes into a corn field where she encounters a ghost which turns out to be a scare crow. She feels as if she has been tricked. She then starts dancing with the scare crow. Phoenix soon has to cross a dangerous river. Luckily there is a knocked down tree from a storm. Phoenix puts one foot in front of the other very slowly and makes her way across the river. When phoenix finally sees Natchez she is knocked into a ditch by a hunting dog. A white man helps her out of the ditch that she is in. when the white man is talking to Phoenix he puts his hand into his pocket and pulls out quickly and when he does that he doesn’t realize that he has just made a nickel fall out of his pocket. When the white man is distracted by a dog fight Phoenix sees the nickel that fell out of the man’s pocket and she bends down to grab the nickel she feels...
Although we spent little time here in the novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald utilized “The Valley of the Ashes” to its fullest. In this novel “The Valley of Ashes” symbolizes a great number of issues of morality in this society. “The Valley of Ashes” was located between New York and the two Eggs. “The Valley of Ashes” is a barren wasteland made of the ashes of which were dumped there as a byproduct of various modern items and was polluting this area. Although the valley of ashes is treated as ““nowhere”, a place to be driven through on the way to “somewhere” by the characters from both East and West Egg.”(Angela D. Hickley 1), Fitzgerald riddles it with heavy symbolism. Fitzgerald uses “The Valley...
The character Thomas from “This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona,” uses his stories, his money, knowledge, and understanding as he tries to help his friend, Victor, with his father’s death. Thomas is a indian who enjoys telling his stories to everyone. When he hears that his Victor’s father died, he goes to the trading post, where his Victor was heading.The birds, the wind, the sunlight told Thomas that his Victor’s father had died, and he happened to see his Victor’s mom mourning at the trading post.Throughout the rest of the story, Thomas pursue to help Victor get to Phoenix to get his father’s ashes, and his father’s valuable possessions. However, Thomas's stories and kindness allows him to help Victor and Victor’s situation with
Imagine a life where everyone living in a society is happy and prosperous, without a worry in life of something called pain. A society where people could live caring for each other, live on the same level, and enjoy what they already have. A place where people would work together and try to soar to higher peaks and achieve the impossible out of their free will. Unfortunately, there will never be a society similar over even close to similar to the society that seems so full of satisfaction and dreams since man exists. Man exists only to indulge and act for his self benefit and ambitions. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Old Major tries to pass on this utopian ideal to his fellow comrades
The valley of ashes symbolizes social decay and the plight of the poor. The place is more of a gloomy and sad place pictured with no color, all black and white there is little to no hope in the valley of ashes. “This is the valley of ashes- a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens: where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally with a transcendent effort of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air”. (23) Just like the quote says ashes grow like wheat into ridges, all of the decay that happens goes and just piles up there.The quote also states how everything there is made out of ashes so that meaning there's really nothing left there there's no joy no good.
Sherman Alexi is a Native American short story author and in this story “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” his protagonist is portrayed in many of the stereotypical ways of being an Indian who lives on a reservation, some of these ways are is he is shown as being very spiritual by seeing the future and having special dreams as well as living up to the idea that most Indians are story tellers.
In Nancy Coleman’s short story “Fall”, a single mom of two is trying to make ends meet after her divorce. She explains the scene as, “The sky is gray, the air brisk, the leaves long gone from apple trees and woods.” (Coleman, 42). She explains her family tradition of making pumpkin chowder with her children and how she is “Borrowing strength from both.” (Coleman, 42). Indicating that she stays strong because of her kids’ enthusiasm. The mother appears to have a challenging time staying enthusiastic and often seems depressed due to her previous divorce. Annie, her daughter, explains how Alex fell down a well and in a quick turn of events, the mother risks her life to save her son. She continues and explains how, “Alex does not swim. Water has been a problem for him since the beginning =, when he slipped out of my womb with a lung full of fluid that left no room for air.” (Coleman, 43). Miraculously, Alex is saved and rushed into the house.
“Freedom for The Farmer” is can be outlined by two major points for this chapter. “No power over agriculture was given to any branch of the national government”. While this is said and done that, of course, didn’t stop Congress and federal agencies from looking around the Constitution. Which to when The Supreme Court struck down the phrase “general welfare”. To still basically gave Congress no power to control anything. But still doesn’t stop Congress from putting their hand where it doesn’t belong. It’s clearly stated that none of the branches of government have power in agriculture. Like always they believe that they do so and try to come up with numerous about of excuse to justify that they do in fact have a place.
Five minutes later, the fire trucks arrived, but it was too late. Her house was burnt to the ground. While searching the house, the firemen found human remains. They came trudging through the ashes and fall leaves with
The prairie is facing several problems that threaten not only the wellbeing but also the existence of plant and animal species. Habitat loss, overgrazing, and pollution are ruining the prairie ecosystem. The habitats of native prairie animals are being destroys and converted into farmland. Prairie grasses are being uprooted, which are a vital food source for prey animals. When these prey animals do not have enough resources to sustain their current population, their decreasing numbers create ripples across the food web. Loss of prairie grasses is also a problem for animals that live create nests inside them to shelter them and their young. Another side effect of habitat loss is that as the amount of land decreases, the population density increases
represent The American Dream. The Valley of Ashes is ‘’a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who
In the short story “This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” by Sherman Alexie Native Americans are accurately depicted due to the author’s Native American heritage and his upbringing in the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene Tribe. In the story, the character Victor needed help to retrieve his father’s remains, and his childhood acquaintance Thomas acting out of tradition says that he will lend him money (Alexie 245). The role of a Native American should be played or depicted by a Native American author or director, and that non-Natives should have extensive knowledge of the Native American culture before attempting to portray them.