Discussion Board Reading Response Engaging, life like, and girly, the adolescent novel, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume, presents a storyline that focuses on the struggles and controversy evident in nearly every young girl’s life. Adolescents are highly susceptible to worldly influences. Both positive and negative forces shape the way adolescents behave and respond to situations surrounding their everyday environment. Margaret, the protagonist in Judy Blume’s novel, encounters difficulty regarding religion, relationships, becoming a young woman, and becoming an individual in possession of her own thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. The plot and overall storyline are basic; nonetheless, it offers a comforting story, encouraging …show more content…
As a whole, Margaret appears to be a young woman struggling to make the most of a difficult time in her life. Ritha Manning writes in the article Moral Choices by the Alan Review that “fiction can help the young reader determine and understand his or her own ideas about morality and can help the young reader work through moral confusion” (pg. 3). The audience plainly witnesses the trust Margaret has for Nancy diminish when it becomes evident that Nancy lied about her period, and it is obvious both girls feel hesitant about proceeding with their friendship. Positive and negative character characteristics add depth and intrigue to the storyline. On the last page of the novel, it is noted that Margaret finally gets her period, ending the long wait. Nearly every adolescent novel has a resolution of some sort for the problems character's experience. Surprisingly, Blume does not offer the decision Margret makes regarding her religion. There are several reasons this information could have been excluded. One may include Blume’s realization that the struggles adolescents experience are not always resolved. Every situation does not produce a peaceful, happy ending. In class discussion, it was noted that when adolescents make it through something difficult it “gives them faith that other issues will be resolved” (Thurs. …show more content…
It’s Me, Margaret, is one of the earliest well known adolescent novels, and it pertains mostly to young girls. Captivating and personable, this novel is quite enjoyable. This novel is written in such a way, that girls in most situations, locations, and races will find it relatable. Adulthood is a rewarding time; accordingly, adolescents must endure the inevitable tribulation. Reading materials providing positive insight on how to make the transition less problematic and stressful. By and large Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, should be recommended for female
On September 14, 1879, Margaret Sanger was born in Corning, New York. She was the sixth child of eleven children and realized early what being part of a large family meant; just making due. Although her family was Roman Catholic both her mother and father were of Irish descent. Her mother, Anne Purcell had a sense of beauty that was expressed through and with flowers. Her father was an Irish born stonemason whose real religion was social radicalism. Her father was a free thinker and strong believer in eugenics which meant Margaret possessed some of the same values. (Sanger, Margaret) Eugenics is the belief that one race is better than a different race just because they are not like them, kind of like Hitler and the holocaust. “He expected me to be grown up at the age of ten.” (Source 4.3 page 30) Coming from a family of eleven children she did have to grow up fast. Faster than most kids should have to. She left her house as a teenager and came back when she needed to study nursing. It was during this time that Margaret worked as a maternity nurse helping in the delivery of babies to immigrant women. She saw illegal abortions, women being overwhelmed by poverty, to many children, and women dying because they had no knowledge of how to prevent one pregnancy after another. This reminded her of the fact that her own mother had eighteen pregnancies, eleven children, and died at the age of forty-nine. Margaret dropped out of school and moved in with her sister. She ended up teaching first grade children and absolutely hated it. She hated children at that time. When Margaret was a child herself however, she would dream about living on the hill where all the wealthy people lived. She would dream of playing tennis and wearing beautiful c...
Anne Moody has gone through such an exceptionally eventful life that she was able to transform it into a powerful book, "A Coming of Age in Mississippi." All of Anne's childhood not only prepared her for her involvement in the movement during the 1960's, but also kept her inspired and motivated. Anne Moody sees a lot of ups and downs, which causes her to have depressing set backs from time to time. As told through out the book, describing her first twenty-four-years, her uncertainty is justified, yet overall the book does tell a story of success, found not only in Anne's personal life but also in the country. By understanding that in order for the movement to be a success and for there to be hope in the future some drastic changes must occur in people's beliefs. At the end of "A Coming of Age in Mississippi" Anne sees changes, yet is unable to continue with her optimistic attitude that is first seen to be so intense and strong. The trivial changes that occur around Anne are easily gone unnoticed and she continues to doubt and speculate the hopefulness of the future
In her famous short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” Joyce Carol Oates shows the transition from childhood to adulthood through her character Connie. Each person experiences this transition in their own way and time. For some it is leaving home for the first time to go to college, for others it might be having to step up to a leadership position. No matter what, this transition affects everyone; it just happens to everyone differently. Oates describes Connie's unfortunate coming of age in a much more violent and unexpected way than the typical coming of age story for a fifteen year old girl.
As I began reading “Where are you going, where have you been?” by Joyce Carol Oates I found myself relating the experiences of Connie, the girl in the story, to my own personal experiences. She spoke of going to a friend’s house and having her friend’s father drive them to the shopping mall so that they could walk around and socialize or go see a movie. I found that this related very closely with my own experiences of being fifteen years old because it was always someone else’s parents driving my friends and I to the movies or to the mall.
The book I chose for this assignment is Reviving Ophelia. This was a very interesting book. Mary Pipher, PhD. discusses the roles that society plays in shaping the self esteem of teenage and preteen age girls. The author contends that our society today is very look-obsessed and media driven. Through magazines, television, fashion, and retail the "idea" girl is formed and anyone who doesn't fit this idea is not perfect in the culture that girls live in today. Weight issues have caused conditions of anorexia and bulimia putting young girls in jeopardy of declining health. Dr. Pipher chronicles the life of adolescent girls from their carefree days of being energetic, assertive, and tomboyish to their losing themselves at the onset of puberty. Most girls lose their previous selves to fit into a norm of society, being more passive, depressed, and self-critical. The main point of this book is to help uncover the true self of adolescent girls and to give them techniques to help them combat the views of society. This quote from the book summarizes all that the author was addressing when writing this book. "Most girls choose to be socially accepted and split into two selves, one that is authentic and one that is culturally scripted. In public they become who they are suppose to be."
In the books Where the Girls are and Coming of Age in Mississippi, the authors portray how they questioned their place within the American society, and how they found their voice to seek opportunities for themselves and others. The childhoods of Douglas and Moody are major factors in these women’s lives and character development. It is through these experiences that they formed their views of the world and learned to understand the world’s view of women. Douglas and Moody had very different experiences for they grew up in different decades, social and economic classes, and races. It is these differences that cause them to have different reactions. Susan Douglass in Where the Girls are and Anne Moody in Coming of Age in Mississippi have different critiques of American society and solutions, because of the differences of what they were exposed to.
Those living in today’s world are constantly bombarded with the stereotypes and distorted images of a consumerist society. As a result, they often struggle with a loss of identity because mass media try to dictate what they should want to be and do. Zora Neale Hurston tackles this age-old search for self-discovery in her fictional frame story Their Eyes Were Watching God. Janie Crawford tells her best friend, Pheoby, about her quest for her own voice, despite setbacks in the form of relatives, two husbands, and entire towns that attempt to silence her. From a young age, Janie yearns for enlightenment; however, the roles Nanny, Logan Killicks, and Joe Starks force upon her prevent her from reaching selfhood until she meets and falls in love with Tea Cake, her equal.
Watching God is a narrative about Janie’s quest to free herself from repression and explore
Mrs. Marroner from ‘turned’ was a well educated, high society woman. She lived in Boston, an upper-class suburb, had a Ph.D. and once lectured at university. A woman being highly educated was very rare for the early 20th century. Because of her suburban upbringing and education she was a confident, free thinking and independent women who relied on no one. She was the more dominant person in her marriage. We know that she has interesting life as the author says ‘her well-filled, well-balanced mind, her many interests.’ This proves that she has an interesting life and has many interests. Mrs Marroner’s feelings for Gerta change a lot throughout the story. When she first found out that Gerta was pregnant, she was devastated, very emotional. She could not believe that something like this could happen because Gerta was almost like a daughter to Mrs Marroner. When Mrs Marroner had thought about what had happened her feelings for Gerta changed again, she realised that it was Mr Marroners fault. She then decided to forgive Gerta. Many women would put up with a bad husband rather than have no husband, however, Mrs Marroner isn’t like this. She leaves her husband to take care of Gerta.
Joseph Michael Sommers, has written an article on one of Judy Blume’s most iconic coming of age story; Are You There, God? It’s Me Margaret. In this article he speaks about the nature of this novel and how it speaks to young adolescent females. He speaks about the connection the novel has between the protagonist and the reader. Sommer’s argument is that the protagonist breaks the fourth wall and seeks outside intervention to her troubles in her life. The author speaks about the boundaries Judy Blume has tested. One is “sororal dialogism” in the novel, and how he will show it as a recast of avuncularism. Also how sororal bond can be found and interpreted in the novel. Another issue is, how Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, has been described as a problem novel. As well as what position the reader plays. One thing that stood out was that Sommers in the title of the essay puts “reader” in the spot where the word “God” should be.
For centuries men have assumed that because of menstruation and child birth women are the weaker sex. It was very common for women to suffer from "hysteria" during these times in their lives. "John is a physician, and perhaps (I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind) perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster. You see he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do?" (Gillman 2) Charlotte suffers from what can be assumed is post partum depression. As luck would have it, her husband is not only her husband but a physician, as is her brother. With good intentions, Charlotte's husband pays little to no attention to her opinion and feelings as he's already decided that she needed rest. John does not value her writings and minimizes her worries. Charlotte eventually deteriorates as a result of feeling repressed and trapped.
Grace’s motives seem to be fairly simple, as they are based mostly on a love interest of Mr. Kinnear. Mr. Kinnear’s love interest is Nancy Montgomery, who Grace absolutely despises. This hatred has more to do than the fact that Nancy involved herself with Thomas Kinnear, but also because Grace considers her to have multiple personalities, signified by her alias Mary Whitney, and she hates that she is not blessed with the same social standing and wealth that Nancy Montgomery has reached. It is not just a crush for Grace, especially since there are signals that Mr. Kinnear has interest in Grace as well. The easiest solution for her to obtain his love would be to kill Nancy. Kinnear’s interest in Grace is shown when he takes time out of his day to make small talk with Grace. The best signal of Mr. Kinnear’s interest in Grace, however, would be when he asked her to go out on her birthday. Mr. Kinnear’s sly flirting, however, only increases Grace’s desire to be with him, and this will lead to his eventual death. The feelings are not one sided, as they are reciprocated by Grace based on her going out of her way to do things, for example delivering coffee to Mr. Kinnear, that make Nancy angry. Due to the time period, the idea of a mistress, and being born by anyone other than one’s wife is extremely unacceptable, and when Grace finds out Nancy is pregnant, she has another motive for killing her. A marriage between Nancy and Mr. Kinnear would appear imminent if she were to have his baby. Grace will not allow this to happen, and therefore she puts an end to any chance of it occurring by murdering Nancy and Mr. Kinnear.
In the late nineteenth century people obtained more freedom. The American rags to riches story struck a chord with many people and they tried to change their social class. For some, even with new opportunities in life, it would be hard for them to climb the class ladder. Many people live lives full of hardship and obstacles, such as Maggie Johnson from Stephen Crane's Maggie a Girl of the Streets, who grows up in the slums of New York City. Edna Pontellier from Kate Chopin's The Awakening lives a life of extravagance and wealth but still ends up dying a sad and lonely death because she makes poor decisions. Maggie also dies in a tragic death, but not because of bad choices, but because of the situation she finds herself in throughout her life. Maggie's situation turns her into a victim and facilitates her tragic death while Edna makes herself into a victim and causes her own death.
In “Bored,” Margaret Atwood displays her regret towards not appreciating time spent with her father during childhood, creating a repentant and nostalgic tone, suggesting to the reader enjoying life is important and to recognize the brevity of it. For example, “Holding the string while he measured, boards...which I then (bored) weeded,” conveys her resent towards the smaller tasks she was given to do while her father did the main tasks. The author implies that her father guided her throughout life, “..he drove, steered, paddled...” Moreover, the line “Perhaps though boredom is happier,” indicates once she grew up she had to lead herself through life, and misses her simple childhood in contrast with her complicated adult life. In conclusion,
... the MARS model. There were also different kinds of communication channels that were depicted in a few of the scenes from the movie. It was clear that Margaret’s power over Andrew influences his decision to follow through with Margret’s plan and vice versa. And Andrew also uses his counter power to get what he wants out of the deal they’ve made. Towards the end of the movie, it all came down to be Margaret’s ethical value. The stressed of keeping up with the lies and going through a change of emotion was enough for Margret to confess the truth and accepted the fact that she was going to be deported back to Canada.