In Julia Alvarez’s short story, “Snow,” an immigrant student, named Yolanda is learning the American way of doing things. She learns that there is ugly and hatful war going on in the world around her. Sister Zoe, Yolanda’s catholic school teacher, explains to her and her classmates what a bomb is; a mushroom shaped explosion with white specks of dust filling the air. However, when Yolanda sees actual winter snow for the first time, she confuses this snow as bomb dust. After Sister Zoe explains that this is snow that Yolanda is seeing, and not a bomb, Yolanda realizes that snow, unlike a bomb can be a beautiful thing to witness. Julia Alvarez’s last sentence of her short story epitomizes the true meaning of snow, and how it can represent human beings. Julia Alvarez writes, “Each flake was different, Sister Zoe had said, like a person, irreplaceable and beautiful.” Key words from this sentence are, “flake,” “different,” “person,” “irreplaceable,” and “beautiful.”
Sometimes, a “flake” can be misinterpreted. A flake can be someone who never keeps their word, someone who says they’ll do something, and don’t. However, in this context, this “flake” sister Zoe is talking about is a snowflake. A snowflake is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as, “a flake or crystal of snow.” Expanding on that, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a flake as, “a small loose mass or bit,” and a crystal as, “quartz that is transparent or nearly so and that is either colorless or only slightly tinged.” In my opinion, Sister Zoe is comparing Yolanda to snowflakes. In the beginning of the story, Sister Zoe secludes Yolanda from the rest of the class and gives her a special seat in the front of the classroom. Yolanda is a snowflake, metaphorica...
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...erent, but stands out because she is different. I define the word, “beautiful” as something that catches your attention, and is appealing to you. Again, Yolanda is different, which makes her beautiful, because she catches peoples’ attention.
I think Julia Alvarez is trying to tell people who read this story that they are beautiful and irreplaceable, like a snowflake. She is trying to let people know that it’s okay if you have dark skin, or have thick hair, or have blue eyes, or even if you’re green with blue hair. Everyone has something about them, a special quality that no one else has, which makes all of us, irreplaceable and beautiful, just like a snowflake.
Works Cited
Alvarez, Julia. "Snow." Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. By Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 8th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. 75- 76. Print.
In “The Coldest Winter Ever” by Sister Souljah, her overall purpose in writing this book. Was to show the reader the real “ghetto” life and answer questions many of her loyal readers had. But to also represent the honest truth about living in the ghetto. This type of literature is an urban fiction novel, and the main point
While Snow Falling on Cedars has a well-rounded cast of characters, demands strong emotional reactions, and radiates the importance of racial equality and fairness, it is not these elements alone that make this tale stand far out from other similar stories. It is through Guterson’s powerful and detailed imagery and settings that this story really comes to life. The words, the way he uses them to create amazing scenes and scenarios in this story, makes visualizing them an effortless and enjoyable task. Streets are given names and surroundings, buildings are given color and history, fields and trees are given height and depth, objects are given textures and smells, and even the weather is given a purpose in the...
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After hearing of her diagnosis, the narrator travels from his residence in “California to New York” where his mother lives (3). Staring out of his airplane window, he noticed a change in the scenery. The “mountains giving away to flatlands” is used to not only describe the scenery, but how his life is changing (3). He will no longer be living a lavish life in California, but a depressing one that would “bring tears to his eyes” (22-23). He got a “sense of slippage” at the thought of losing his mother (3). When he finally arrived to his parent’s residence, the narrator was greeted with “brittleness and frost” (4). The author uses these two words with a cold denotation to describe more than just the weather on Long Island (4). Brittleness and frost are utilized to display the narrator’s feeling, as well as the theme of the book. The weather wasn’t the only thing the narrator noticed when he entered his parent’s town. His mother's actions caught his attention as well. When she held his hand, he again felt a sense of slippage (9). It mirrored the sensation he experienced on the airplane. His mom is slipping out of his hands, while life
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Wordsworth’s famous and simple poem, “I wandered lonely as a cloud,” expresses the Romantic Age’s appreciation for the beauty and truth that can be found in a setting as ordinary as a field of daffodils. With this final stanza, Wordsworth writes of the mind’s ability to carry those memories of nature’s beauty into any setting, whether city or country. His belief in the power of the imagination and the effect it can have on nature, and vice a versa, is evident in most of his work. This small portion of his writing helps to illuminate a major theme of the Romantic poets, and can even be seen in contemporary writings of today. One such work is Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. This story follows two characters, Inman and Ada, who barely know each other and are forced apart by the Civil War. As Ada waits in North Carolina Appalachia for Inman to return home from three years of battle, Inman decides to abandon the war effort and journey across the Southern states to reach his beloved.
At last the mention of snow is a summary of the perception of events and of the characters' thoughts. The snow is falling all over Ireland, on both the living and the dead. The snowfall symbolizes and predicts that Gabriel cann't uncover the feelings and thoughts of women. In short, the interchange between Gabriel and the female character like Gretta, Miss Ivors, Lily and Aunts Mary and Kate indicates the Gabriel is not able to reflect accurately upon his own motivations, desires, and actions.
One motif which reappears in the film is the power of nature, especially in relation to the individual. In fact, the film begins with a majestic shot of the Rocky Mountains showing its beauty and height. The beauty of nature and even friendliness of nature changes as the film develops. As the movie progresses the snow still seems white and pure, almost virgin like, but nature becomes an isolating force, not providing the family with a retreat from the pressures of modern life, but forcing the family to turn in on its dysfunctional and psychopathic self. Imprisoned by the snow and the tall mountains , the family seems weak and vulnerable.
“Let It Snow” by David Sedaris is a short story that magnifies the extent in which children might go in order to grab the attention of their parents. It is simply short and it is full imagination that would help the reader what it feels to be a child. Sedaris first gives the reader a sense of imagery when he describes the snow storm that cancels school for him and his sisters. After the reader begins to reread he/she might think that the story will be about a snow day but it takes a sharp turn. The story focuses on the hurt and neglect in which the Sedaris and his siblings went through with their drunken mother with the absence of their father. After being kicked out into the cold by their mother, the children are left to think about their relationship with their parents that has been left in the cold. The writer begins to express his feelings towards his parents, especially his mother by providing various details that keep the reader emotionally interested in the story. To the reader it might seem that story is about the children but it is actually focus on the mother. Also Sedaris did an
Julia Alvarez. “Snow”. Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Ed. Lauren G, Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 8th ed. Boston, Wadsworth 2011. 75-76. Print
In Issa’s poem the transition from the image of melting snow to that of children falling on the village is abrupt and jarring. In Muldoon’s poem, the transition is smoo...
...a silence deep and white” (Line,4) they are talking about how the white snow is beautiful and, how it looks like to me this is a love of nature to some maybe not.Last one is Intuition over fact in this quote “Father,who makes the snow?” (Line,22) says his daughter, “And told of the good All father” (Line,23) and lastly “Who cares for us here below” (Line,24) he is talking about and all father which i believe he is talking about god,and this is a great characteristic for this poem.
Neil Gaiman’s “Snow, Glass, Apples” is far from the modern day fairy tale. It is a dark and twisted version of the classic tale, Snow White. His retelling is intriguing and unexpected, coming from the point of view of the stepmother rather than Snow White. By doing this, Gaiman changes the entire meaning of the story by switching perspectives and motivations of the characters. This sinister tale has more purpose than to frighten its readers, but to convey a deeper, hidden message. His message in “Snow, Glass, Apples” is that villains may not always be villains, but rather victims.
Many writers use powerful words to portray powerful messages. Whether a writer’s choice of diction is cheerful, bitter, or in Robert Hayden’s case in his poem “Those Winter Sundays,” dismal and painful, it is the diction that formulates the tone of the piece. It is the diction which Hayden so properly places that allows us to read the poem and picture the cold tension of his foster home, and envision the barren home where his poem’s inspiration comes from. Hayden’s tumultuous childhood, along with the unorthodox relationships with his biological parents and foster parents help him to create the strong diction that permeates the dismal tone of “Those Winter Sundays.” Hayden’s ability to both overcome his tribulations and generate enough courage