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Gender roles in childrens literature
Gender roles in kidsbooks
Children and war effects
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Recommended: Gender roles in childrens literature
Written by Deborah Ellis and published by Groundwood Books, The Breadwinner is an eye-opening book about the impact of war on children and their families. This story takes place in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, during the period of time when the Taliban took over this city. Ellis tells the story of a strong and courageous girl who has to provide for her family in a country where there is extreme sexism towards girls, and she doesn’t have the possibility of living in a war-free country. Deeply affected by her father’s arrest, an eleven-year-old girl named Parvana has to become the “breadwinner” of her family; she needs to dress up as a boy because of sexism towards women and work in order to provide for her family. We have enjoyed reading this book for various reasons. Parvana, the main character, is a very brave girl, and this demonstrates how women can be just as courageous as men. For instance, Parvana’s mother asked her to dress up as a boy to earn money for her family, and she didn’t refuse. This proves exactly how mature and brave Parvana is. Even if there is One of those is the fact that there is some mature content. For example, there is abduction, punishment, beatings and even death in this book. At one point in the story (spoiler alert!), thieves are punished gruesomely by getting their hands cut off. If young children were reading this story, we believe some of them could feel a bit uncomfortable with the idea of blood and beatings. However, it would be their choice to read this book, mature content or not. Besides, some children are already mature enough to understand these concepts. One last thing that we did not particularly like is the summaries of the next books and spin-offs. When we read the short summary of the sequel to The Breadwinner, so many important events were revealed and it spoiled the story for me. This, though, is only in the new edition (fifteenth anniversary
Do you believe all women are smart enough to get an education or strong enough to go to war? In countries like Afghanistan and even America, there is a preconceived notion that women are simply best for bearing children, raising them, cleaning, and cooking for their husbands. From a young age, many women are given gendered roles, such as being taught by society to find husbands and care for children. For instance, girls are given baby dolls and kitchen sets for their birthdays instead of books. In Flashes of War, by Katey Schultz, the two stories “Deuce Out” and “Aaseya and Rahim” the protagonists Stephanie and Aaseya may live in different worlds, but they share much more than we think. Because of predetermined expectations that society has imposed upon women, Schultz’s book comes to a surprise since it defies pre-conceived notions of women.
Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, written in 1984, and Anzia Yezierska’s Bread Givers, published in 1925, are both aimed at adolescent and adult audiences that deal with deep disturbing themes about serious social conditions and their effects on children as adults. Both books are told in the first person; both narrators are young girls living in destitute neighborhoods; and both young girls witness the harsh realities of life for those who are poor, abused, and hopeless. Although the narrators face these overwhelming obstacles, they manage to survive their tough environments with their wits and strength remaining intact.
Within every story or poem, there is always an interpretation made by the reader, whether right or wrong. In doing so, one must thoughtfully analyze all aspects of the story in order to make the most accurate assessment based on the literary elements the author has used. Compared and contrasted within the two short stories, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, and John Updike’s “A&P,” the literary elements character and theme are made evident. These two elements are prominent in each of the differing stories yet similarities are found through each by studying the elements. The girls’ innocence and naivety as characters act as passages to show something superior, oppression in society shown towards women that is not equally shown towards men.
After hearing a brief description of the story you might think that there aren’t many good things about they story. However, this is false, there are many good things in this book that makes it a good read. First being that it is a very intriguing book. This is good for teenage readers because often times they don’t willingly want to read, and this story will force the teenage or any reader to continue the book and continue reading the series. Secondly, this is a “good” book because it has a good balance of violence. This is a good thing because it provides readers with an exciting read. We hear and even see violence in our everyday life and I believe that it is something teenagers should be exposed to. This book gives children an insig...
Due to traditional stereotypes of women, literature around the world is heavily male-dominant, with few female characters outside of cliché tropes. Whenever a female character is introduced, however, the assumption is that she will be a strong lead that challenges the patriarchal values. The authors of The Thousand and One Nights and Medea use their female centered stories to prove their contrasting beliefs on the role of women not only in literature, but also in society. A story with a female main character can be seen as empowering, but this is not always the case, as seen when comparing and contrasting Medea and The Thousand and One Nights.
American history between 1865 and 1900 is characterized as the Gilded Age. Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner coined this term; it means that this era, from the outside, appeared prosperous, but with a closer look, one could discover the corruption that lay beneath the thin layer of gold. This era was filled with urbanization, industrialization, and immigration; these three things gave the Gilded Age the appearance of being a prosperous time filled with progress. However, the American industrial worker, the bulwark of the age, did not prosper as much as one may have thought. American industrial workers faced extremely difficult lives, working very hard to receive little reward, and it did not take very long before they wanted reform. The industrial workers banded together, forming labor unions, in order to try to negotiate with their employers to have some of their demands met. Labor unions are generally thought of as having positive effects on workers, which certainly was true, but only to an extent. Labor unions also had some very negative effects on workers, specifically when their demands were not met, or when they were seen negatively by the government and the public. Immigration rates during the Gilded Age were extremely high, because the United States had great opportunities, especially in available jobs, which were greatly desirable to foreign people. Immigration generally had negative effects on American industrial workers. With large numbers of immigrants coming from foreign countries, there was a surplus of labor which caused unemployment and wages to remain low. Also, immigration had great effects on labor unions, generally negative as well, which would then in turn negatively affect the workers in that union. Last...
Her realization that she is not alone in her oppression brings her a sense of freedom. It validates her emerging thoughts of wanting to rise up and shine a light on injustice. Her worries about not wanting to grow up because of the harsh life that awaits her is a common thought among others besides the people in her community. As she makes friends with other Indians in other communities she realizes the common bonds they share, even down to the most basic such as what they eat, which comforts her and allows her to empathize with them.
On the outside you look, talk, and act like a man, but on the inside you are a young girl. There is a tradition in Afghanistan culture that was gone on for centuries called bacha posh where young girls grow up as men in a culture bound by women oppression. In Jenny Nordberg’s book The Underground Girls of Kabul she explores the Afghan culture and tradition on bacha posh. The bacha posh tradition is often seen as a practical to solution to women oppression that can lead to female empowerment and a higher family social status; although it can also leave negative psychological and mental affects that lead to issues later in life.
Women are often portrayed in stories and tales as the Damsel in Distress. We are the ones waiting in our flowing gowns for the knight to come and carry us away on the back of his white horse. In a Thousand Splendid Suns it is the women who are the warrior princesses, the ones enduring so much. It is the strength of a woman and how they deal with the human capacity for evil that jumps out as the themes of this story. A Thousand Splendid Suns shows the perspective of two women, in which they live their lives both very differently but both show the inner strength of being a woman. It is most definitely not the easiest task of being a woman in Afghanistan, where men have so much power and authority. Both these women stories’ are being told during three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny. Mariam and Laila become allies in a battle with their brutal husband, many miscarriages, mothering a daughter where women are not welcomed, dealing with many deaths of loved ones and somehow showing the resilience of being a woman.
Work and employment have been, and still are one of the prominent reasons why so many Asians continue to immigrate to the United States. As early as the Gold Rush in 1840s, when gold was discovered in the Sacramento Valley in California, which led many Chinese to come to the U.S. to find their fortune and return home rich, Asians (primarily Chinese then) had been coming to the United States. In addition to working in the gold mines, Chinese also worked as small merchants, domestics, farmers, grocers, and starting in 1865, as railroad workers on the famous Transcontinental Railroad project.
The young girl in the story is struggling with finding her own gender identity. She would much rather work alongside her father, who was “tirelessly inventive” (Munro 328), than stay and work with her mother in the kitchen, depicted through, “As soon as I was done I ran out of the house, trying to get out of earshot before my mother thought of what to do next” (329). The girl is torn between what her duties are suppose to be as a woman, and what she would rather be doing, which is work with her father. She sees her father’s work as important and worthwhile, while she sees her mother’s work as tedious and not meaningful. Although she knows her duties as a woman and what her mother expects of her, she would like to break the mould and become more like her father. It is evident that she likes to please her father in the work she does for him when her father says to the feed salesman, “Like to have you meet my new hired man.” I turned away and raked furiously, red in the face with pleasure (328-329). Even though the young girl is fixed on what she wants, she has influences from both genders i...
The Industrial Revolution and the Suffrage of woman it’s an “earth- shaking revolution” in every aspect of a person faces trying to balance family and work in modern life. In the early 1920s, the Industrial Revolution transformed America society, created a middle class; but social conditions did not always get better and in many cases they got worse. Instead of going to school, children were expected to work more than ever and for very little pay. Parent was not much concern of providing them with education or stability. Before, laws were passed to regulate industry many of the conditions inside factoring could be both dangerous and exploitation of child. While, traditionally a woman’s role in society was to stay at home and care for her family. Often, woman weren’t considered educated enough in local or national affairs touted.
In contemporary society, feminism is emerging as a theory of social construct. In literature it is often challenging to discover female characters that go beyond the limits of marginalized female stereotypes and roles as a means to transgress beyond societal norms. Women are characterized as subordinate objects, amid the dominant patriarchal nature entrenched amid the epic. In The Ramayana, women are portrayed as powerless objects that succumb to the manipulation of men as the text portrays a false empowerment of women, which ultimately succumb to common archetypes accustomed to women in literature; implementing a hierarchy of gender that institutionalizes male dominance amid female inferiority. The women of The Ramayana struggle to oppose the systemic patriarchy and pursue a pathway towards attaining dynamic elements of power, that enable their ability to embody autonomous authority. In Valmiki’s The Ramayana, while women appear to be empowered, ultimately they are feeble instruments utilized to fulfill the desires of men.
Happiness is arguably the most sought after goal of the human condition, and time and money are possibly two of the most valuable resources any individual possesses. The article “Time, money and happiness: How does putting a price on time affect out ability to smell the roses?” by Sanford E. DeVoe and Julian House (2012), sets out to answer the question; what is the connection between time, money, and happiness? The hypothesis that DeVoe and House (2012) proposed was that there is a frustration caused when the goal of maximizing the economic value of time is obstructed and that this frustration can lessen other benefits of experiences, especially pleasure. This hypothesis requires that the individual think about time in relation to its monetary value and therefore whether or not time can be better spent doing something that brings in money. The researchers tested their hypothesis through a few experiments.
When discussing housewifery and working mothers, some women have very different opinions about the two. In the articles “Letter to Working Mothers: Stop Feeling So Guilty” by Margie Warrell, written in 2013, and “The Satisfactions of Housewifery and Motherhood” by Terry Martin Hekker, written in 1977, this is shown to be true. While author Margie Warrell gives advice to working mothers, author Terry Martin Hekker gives her personal life story of being a housewife. From 1977 to 2013, marriage has changed quite a bit. Ms. Hekker discusses her views of being a house wife in 1977 as an over-conservative marriage. Ms. Warrell gives advice to working mothers to help with guilt of not being a housewife, which is a more nontraditional marriage. Both articles have creditable views regarding each topic due to both authors’ personal experiences.