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More handpicked essays just for you.
How does literature help us understand history
The influence literature had on history
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In the excerpt The Circuit”, written by Francisco Jimérez, the audience is able to see that you have to work hard in order to get what you want and need. This selection is historical since it was about a true event. The author here gives a detailed description about what his life was like back then, which makes this written in first person. Many people influenced his life, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Lema, Mamá, Papá, Roberto, Francisco’s little brothers and sisters, Francisco’s classmates, labor camp foreman, school students, and the principal office helper. Mr. Sullivan allowed Francisco’s family to work for money. Mr. Lema allowed him to study more and feel more confident about himself. Mama, Papa, Roberto, and his siblings influenced his life with …show more content…
The office room staff allowed him to go to school there and meet the rest of the students and teacher. The labor camp foreman didn’t allow Francisco’s family to work in the labor camp, which would have brought in a different setting, people, and work. Francisco lived with his family in Fresno, N. Ca. Living with a poorer family, Francisco lived a harsher life than most people, having to work in a field and sleep outside. With many others filling in open jobs, Francisco and his family struggled to find work. When they did, it was cruel. For example, when Francisco went out to pick grapes, the temperature was near 100F. He explained that he was completely soaked in sweat and that his mouth felt like he was chewing a handkerchief. He soon became light-headed and dehydrated. Francisco nearly fainted in the immense heat. After Francisco felt a bit better, he went with his family to eat. His family eats near their shelter. They lived in a creaky, old, worn-down, detached garage. The floor was made up of hard dirt, the walls were rotten, and the roof was full of …show more content…
Francisco was the only child in his family who went to an English school, even though they mainly spoke Spanish. I mostly enjoyed the effort he put into his schoolwork and the enthusiasm he put into learning the English words. It was also enjoyable when his teacher helped him with his work. As more of a reward, Francisco’s teacher offered to teach him how to play the trumpet. The ending in my opinion was the most surprising. This is mainly because it was a twist. Instead of going back to a happy home and telling everyone about school, they were moving away. All of their items were packed and they were preparing to leave. I expected the excerpt to end with him to see his parents and have them throw a small party. Mamá would make her special “carne con chile”, the brother would be proud but still a bit sad, the siblings would celebrate, and the father would be glad. This perspective allows you to see the reaction of other characters, Mama, Papa, Roberto, siblings, etc. Francisco’s perspective showed how immense the heat outside was. He was light-headed and nearly fainted. This perspective was different from what it would have been with the other family members. Mama would have been taking care of her young children, Papa would be working the fields doing harder work (but would have probably
It is often said that the setting of the story can change the character’s mentality and personality. In the classic vignette, A Summer Life, Gary Soto addresses his childhood to adulthood in Fresno in the course of a short vivid chapters. Born on April 12, 1952, a year before the Korean War ended, Gary experiences his life in Fresno of what he describes “what I knew best was at ground level,” and learns what is going on around the neighborhood with his religious background behind him. Later, when he realizes his father passes away, he undergoes hardships which cause his family to be miserable. Growing up in the heart of Fresno, Gary Soto, the author, explains his journey as a young man to adolescence through his use of figurative language and other adventures. The settings of this book revise Gary’s action and feelings around his surroundings.
In the story, each character's mental and physical health changes, whether it is prominently obvious or not. Their health declines – whether it be a rapid decline, as in the father's case, or a graduating descent, like the the rest of the family – and they become older and less attached to the real world, more attached to each other. They retain their habits from the camp and it affects the way that they live amongst other people, in the outside world. The permanence of the changes is evident in each character and will strongly affect the way they live the rest of their life from that point.
“On the third day of rain they had killed so many crabs inside the house that Pelayo had to cross his drenched courtyard and throw them into the sea, because the newborn child had a temperature all night and they thought it was due to the stench. The world had been sad since Tuesday” (García Már...
Richard Rodriguez author and journalist wrote a short piece “Scholarship Boy” to explain to his audience of underprivileged children wanting a better future, the scarifies he endured as a young child: the loss of family ties and knowing himself in order to succeed a better self. Another great author who faced huge sacrifices is known as none other than abolitionist leader Fredrick Douglass, “Learning to Read and Write” giving his found audience a look into the various dangerous tasks he took to give himself a better chance of survival. The two pieces show how one boy sacrificed so much in order to free himself and the other coming from less harsh circumstances but understand sacrifices just as well. All to be able to have a better and brighter future.
...rest became a nightmare. Enrique’s time apart from his mother made them more like “strangers” than family. Filled with anger stemming from the years apart from one another, he refused to obey his mother’s wishes to live healthier. While lost in family chaos, he turned back to his addiction of drugs crashing his dream of a perfect family dynamic. Though his dream became a nightmare, he was able to achieve it through one core trait where his inner strength help drive him to not give up his dream of seeing his mother. This signifies that if a person is willing to work hard to achieve their dream through diligence, it can be met. Though the outcome may not be what one hoped for, being able to say you accomplished something is soul-pleasing. His success in making it to the U.S. regardless of many downfalls satisfies one missing piece in his broken puzzle of a life.
In the book Always Running written by Luis J. Rodriguez we meet the author at a young age, We accompany him as he grows into the Veteran gang lifestyle. Throughout the autobiography, Luis, a young Chicano who survived ¨La Vida Loca¨ in South San Gabriel gives voice to an unheard cry and illuminates the cycle of poverty and violence of gang wars. His families instability and the discrimination they received due to their ethnicity gives him a desire to hurt others and seek understanding in a deviant way. Rodriguez speaks on many of the issues we still see in our Latino communities today, The lack of resources; financially and emotionally. He narrates his own internal and external battles to gain respect, belonging, and protection.
...l Paso, Texas with his third wife. His original residence in New Mexico was burned down in 1994. He then moved to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and Uruapan, Michoacan where he met his third wife. His memoirs once only available in Spanish in 1978, published by Mexico’s Fondo Cultural Economico was republished in 2000.
There are some literary devices or methods that can be applied in analyzing a given story that can either be short or long. Other aspects include literary devices, contrast, repetition, and anomalies (Wallek and Warren, 1956). In this task, I will use the short story, The First Day, which is written by Edward P. Jones. I will provide a summary of the story and later analyze it by identifying the devices used and how they have been applied to bring out the meaning of the story. The story is about a little girl seeing her mother as a flawed woman. The first day of school or the young girl, she found out her mother is not perfect. It’s not easy when you grew up expecting something, but after a while you find out the opposite is completely right.
Douglass’s life in the city was very different from his life in the country, and living in the city changed his life. In the city, he worked as a ship caulker which he excelled at, compared to a a field hand in the country which he was not skilled at. In the city he was treated better and always fed, but in the country he was experienced lack of food most of the time. The city opened his mind to escaping, and with the help of abolitionists he was able to successfully escape. In the country he did not knowledgable people to help him and was turned in by an ignorant, loyal slave. The city’s better opportunities and atmosphere led Frederick Douglass to escape freedom and dedicate the rest of his life fighting to end slavery
...parents were much more successful in the working world encouraged him to complete many daily activities such as choir and piano lessons. His parents engaged him in conversations that promoted reasoning and negotiation and they showed interest in his daily life. Harold’s mother joked around with the children, simply asking them questions about television, but never engaged them in conversations that drew them out. She wasn’t aware of Harold’s education habits and was oblivious to his dropping grades because of his missing assignments. Instead of telling one of the children to seek help for a bullying problem she told them to simply beat up the child that was bothering them until they stopped. Alex’s parents on the other hand were very involved in his schooling and in turn he scored very well in his classes. Like Lareau suspected, growing up
After receiving his master's degree, Soto became writer-in-residence at San Diego State University and a lecturer in Chicano studies at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1977, he became an associate professor in both the Chicano studies and English departments at University of California, Berkeley, where he has been a senior lecturer since 1992. Soto also uses his own boyhood experiences as well as familiar streets in the Central Valley of California on which books and characters are based on.
Even from an early age, Rodriguez is a successful student. Everyone is extremely proud of Rodriguez for earning awards and graduating to each subsequent level of his education. But all his success was not necessarily positive. In fact, we see that his education experience is a fairly negative one. One negative that Rodriguez endures is his solitude. Education compels him to distance himself from his family and heritage. According to Richard Hoggart, a British education theorist, this is a very natural process for a scholarship boy. Hoggart explains that the ?home and classroom are at cultural extremes,? (46). There is especially an opposition in Rodriguez?s home because his parents are poorly educated Mexicans. His home is filled with Spanish vernacular and English filled with many grammatical errors. Also, the home is filled with emotions and impetuosity, whereas the classroom lacks emotion and the teachers accentuate rational thinking and reflectiveness.
When they first arrived to the United States their only hopes were that they would have a better life and that there were better special education programs for Maribel to attend at Evers. Alma imagined that the buildings would look a lot nicer than they really were. The family was surprised that they could take things from the street that someone threw out of their house, but were in working condition. When they arrived they didn’t think that you would actually have to learn English to be able to communicate, but after going to stores and interacting with people they learned that they need to learn English if they want to live in America. They hoped that you could be able to afford anything in America by working, but based off of the money Arturo was making they learned that you can’t buy everyth...
The climax of the story has a few layers of drama that really bring out the problems between the characters. We see Santiago and his half brother Cheche battle about the future of the factory; this affects Santiago's relationship with his wife who doesn't know about all the debt and risks he has taken. Then there's Conchita and her husband Paloma, who are experiencing marital issues which become heightened by the seductive lector Juan Julian. Both couples have personal conflicts with one another as well as external issues that affect their lives. The play had interesting parts to it such as infidelity and abuse of sexual nature. some very sensual parts; like infidelity and sexual abuse but were carried out by the cast with immense care and genuineness. Gomez does a really good job of bringing out emotional performances from the actors. This really took me on an emotional/visual roller coaster. The characters moved from happy to angry and from night to day with great ease. Scenes were so realistic and I found myself really engrossed in the story. Gomez interpreted the script really well and I think he related to the story. The story felt natural and cohesive,like it was his
The emotional letter that Juan left for his mother might be one of the most emotional scenes in the documentary. The pure emotions that the letter was written by Juan to her mother leaves the audience with the bonds and emotions felt between the kids and families. Juan Carlos’s father abandoned the family years ago and left to New York, consequently Juan believe it is his responsibility to provide for his family. He also wants to find his father in New York and confronts him about why he has forgotten about them. The story of Juan is not just about migration of children, but also the issue of family separation. The documentary does not dehumanize but rather bring the humane and sensitive lens to the story of Juan where the human drama that these young immigrants and their families live. Juan Carlos is not the first of Esmeralda’s sons to leave for the United states, his nine-year-old brother Francisco was smuggled into California one month earlier. Francisco now lives with Gloria, his grandmother, who paid a smuggler $3,500 to bring him to Los Angeles, California. Once Juan Carlos is in the shelter for child migrants his mother eagerly awaits him outside. After she sees him she signs a paper that says if Juan Carlos tries to travel again, he will be sent to a foster home.