A story can be perceived many different ways. Various factors contribute to the comprehension of a story. Often times texts can have more than one meaning or message. Reading a story is just like watching something happen, your point of view determines what you see and how you understand it. A group of people all retelling the same event will never tell the exact same story. Certain individuals connect with the characters of a story in different ways, due to the fact that everyone is different. If one has been through a situation similar to that of the character they may feel a stronger bond with them. Many things contribute to the view one has on a certain character or book as a whole. The Girl Who Can and Checkouts have many comparable and …show more content…
contrastable qualities, as well as cultural aspects that control the stories. These short tales contain many similarities.
Both of these stories bear similar themes and messages. Checkouts and The Girl Who Can are centered around love. Although in different ways the feeling is still there. In Checkouts the central character falls in love with the bag boy at her new local supermarket. “Then one day the bag boy dropped her jar of mayonnaise and that is how she fell in love.” (Page 83) In The Girl Who Can Adjoa yearns for love from her mother and grandmother. She always had their love just not their approval, when she won the race she gained this to. As common with human nature both characters are searching for the approval of others. The main character of Checkouts wants approval from her beloved bag boy; while Adjoa wants approval from her family and those in her village. Both stories are told from the female perspective. Not only the narrators, but the authors are female as well. male and female have different viewpoints on issues and problems by both stories being written from the same perspective they have paralleling …show more content…
qualities. Although both stories have many similarities they have an abundance of differences as well. The central focus of the stories are slightly different. In Checkouts the story has only two relevant characters and is centered around the thoughts and ideals of only one. Whereas in The Girl Who Can there is many characters and the thoughts and ideals of others are greatly important. Also there is no dialogue between the characters in Checkouts, that is part of the original conflict. These stories take place in two different extremes of settings. One takes place in a secluded desert in Africa somewhere with little resources; while the other is based in a busy city of a United States grocery store. Although both main characters are female children Adjoa seems to be remarkably younger. The cultural aspects of both stories provide to the drastic differences and the overall portrayal of each character.
The Girl Who Can is based in a remote setting with many restrictions. This society seems to unparalleled women to men. The grandmother believes it is a waste to send Adjoa to school because there is no need for it. Later in her life she will cook clean and do other house work. This is very different from that of Checkouts, the majority of the story takes place in a grocery store that wouldn't even exist where Adjoa lives. People who live in those remote places have to be self sufficient and collect their own food and water. If either one of these stories took place in a different location they wouldnt happen in the same ways. For instance, if Checkouts took place in a region where women were not allowed freedoms she possibly would never have gone to the store or even if she did she would be accompanied by a male escort. The cultural aspect of both stories controls many key points in each
story. Cultural perspectives, Contrasting qualities and similar traits all included in Checkouts and The Girl Who Can. The many similarities between the two texts originate from the points of view they were written from. Both texts were written and narrated by women. Also, the abundance of differences added interesting aspects to the stories. To conclude, varying diverse cultural aspects provided insight into the story. If the cultural influence was changed in either story the plot would change drastically as well. Everything is essential to the story and without it the story wouldn't make sense.
The key to characters, and by proxy good writing, is an appeal to these universal struggles, these emotions which manifest themselves in many forms and conflicts. This is why we can sympathize with both a story about a down on his luck middle class American, and a fictional hobbit on a mystical quest, even if the former is probably a scenario we closer relate
In the short story,’’Checkouts,’’ the author uses figurative language such as similes, imagery, and hyperboles. In structure, using figurative language allows the reader to understand the story better and make it more creative, along with it becoming interesting. For example, on (page 47), it states, ”Like a Tibetan monk in solitary medication, she calmed to a point of deep,deep happiness.” Next, there is also imagery in the short story. An example of imagery in the story is how the narrator describes when the girl and the bag boy meet for the first time. “She interested him because her hair was red and thick, and in it she had placed a huge orange bow, nearly the size of a small hat” (47). For example, there is also some hyperboles in the
Many times in our lives we are compared to our siblings. On many occasions, I am compared to my brother. People say that we have the same physique facial features, and height. Although these traits run in the family, I truly only want to be my own person. Just the other day someone called me “Michael.” The burn from my anger showed on my face. “I am NOT Michael,” I screamed; I am my own person. Just as we see similarities in family members, people also see similarities in stories written by the same author. In “The Devil and Tom Walker” and “Rip Van Winkle” we see similarities in setting, male protagonist, a female antagonist, and a mystic character.
...s sometimes they have a very set meaning to what that story is supposed to be about and sometimes they don’t but in almost every case you can read further into what they are saying by just paying attention to how it makes you feel as you read it.
These two stories hold components that are clearly differentiating, yet similar in the meantime. Having every story been composed in a third-individual account structure, the onlooker
Readers can connect and identify with the story quickly through the verisimilitude that Joan MacLeod creates throughout the story. The descriptions that she uses to create images in the minds of the readers are probably very close to what most people had while growing up. It creates emotions in readers because the story relates so often to what is heard and seen in media everyday all over ...
In both of these stories there are certain characteristics of females that are the same, they are inner strength, obedience, honor and respect, the good of the family is better than the good of the individual.
The narrator in the story does not know everything in the story, the narrator cannot understand everything in the story, and can only describe everything that happens in the story through, the narrator’s view, and thoughts, portraying that the story is told in the first person limited point of view. For example, when Sheila was describing how fishing was boring, or uninteresting for her, the narrator tries to think of ways why her dislike of fishing came through, but never really figures it out, “Now I have spent a great deal of time in the years why Sheila Mant should come down so hard on fishing/ Had she tried it once” (Wetherell 3). This shows that the narrator is desperately trying hard to figure out why does, Sheila, someone that the narrator hold in high regard, hates something that, the narrator also holds in high regard. Despite, the previous mentions that the narrator had learned so much about Sheila, the narrator was not knowledgeable on the topics that Sheila was talking about in the canoe ride with the narrator. “It was a few minutes before I was able to catch up with her train of thought/I had no idea whom she meant” (Wetherell 2,3), many instances were showed that the narrator had really nothing in common with Sheila, and could not give much
When writing literature, authors will adapt points of view to mold the perceptions of their readers. Three points of view that authors use to draw readers into their works of fiction are the limited perspective, the first-person perspective, and the objective perspective. Three stories will be examined and critiqued for their use of these narrative techniques. Of the three perspectives that will be examined, the first-person perspective is the most useful for sharing the authors’ vision.
Both books are told in the first person; both narrators are young girls, living in destitute neighborhoods, who witness the harsh realities of life for those who are poor, abused, and hopeless, although the narrators themselves manage to survive their tough environments with their wits and strength intact. Books are more than simple literary exercises, written merely to amuse or delight their audiences. Both authors attempt to provoke their readers to think about the social issues their novels present.... ... middle of paper ...
Because there exists an audience, there exists someone to persuade or influence. Thus, an author, like Morrison, builds a textual relationship between the characters in her story and that of the reader digesting her story. Morrison, like all authors, understands that the reader searches for an emotional direction in which to follow in the interpretation of characters.... ... middle of paper ... ...
throughout the novel allows the audience to gain a better understanding and personal compassion for both the character and the author. 	The novel is written in a short, choppy sentence structure using simple word choice, or diction, in a stream of consciousness to enable the reader to perceive the novel in the rationale of an eleven-year-old girl. One short, simple sentence is followed by another, relating each in an easy flow of thoughts. Gibbons allows this stream of thoughts to again emphasize the childish perception of life’s greatest tragedies. For example, Gibbons uses the simple diction and stream of consciousness as Ellen searches herself for the true person she is.
According to the reader the danger of a “single story” is related to how people tend to attribute an image to something regarding to the background information that they have about the thing. In this case having less information or the same information about something is likely to impact on the idea that they will have about something. To support this argument she talked about how during her childhood she used to read book with foreigners characters and about things that she didn’t identify with such as snow and ginger beer. Because of the fact that all her book were similar, she ended up believing that all books have to be same and always include foreign characters with “Blue eyes” and are about things that she couldn’t identify with. Further, she also talks about Fide and how the fact that her mom kept telling her that his family was poor made her think that his family was poor and that it was the only story about them. She couldn’t see them as hard workers or anything else but as poor. Also, she talked about the stereotypes that she had about Mexicans related to immigration in the U.S and how during her trip to Mexico realized that her thoughts were wrong in many ways. Lastly, she talked about her roommate and how she felt pity for her because she was African. Her roommate was surprised to see that she speaks English as well as her and that she knew how to use a stove just because all the information that her roommate has about Africa was a poor conti...
In conclusion, it is hard to grasp the true meaning of the story unless the story is read a second time because of the author's style of writing.
Both stories show feminism of the woman trying to become free of the male dominance. Unfortunately, the woman are not successful at becoming free. In the end, the two women’s lives are drastically