Dorothy Parker's "The Standard of Living" & Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson" This essay takes its inspiration from Dorothy Parker's "The Standard of Living" (pages 337- 341) and Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson" (pages 342-347). These stories have been written not only by different authors but with different styles as well. This essay basically addresses the issues of literary style between the two writers. DOROTHY PARKER'S "THE STANDARD OF LIVING" The young women are Annabel and Midgè crave for a lavish standard of life. They wish to be arrogant and leisure loving. They imagine lunching as per their want means they are wealthy and can buy what they want. They lunch on sugar, starches, oils, and butterfats that show the women are fat looking. They are shown to be food lovers eating sandwiches of spongy new white bread greased with butter and mayonnaise. They also take thick wedges of cake lying wet beneath ice cream and whipped cream and melted chocolate gritty with nuts. Dorothy is at her best describing the standard of living of the two young women starting with what they eat and they are shown to be eating lavishly. Dorothy then comes to the main point or the reality by telling that the lavish spending was just a dream. As an alternate the two girls are shown to be eating patties and other cheap food according to their own standards. Annabel and Midge were the best friends. Dorothy describes the starting of their friendship from the company that employed the two. The girls supported their families by working as stenographers. Dorothy describes the working conditions of the office of the two girls explaining where do they dine and take their lunch, how do they sit and what do they discuss. They passed Sundays in each other’s...
... middle of paper ...
... COMPARISON AND CONTRAST This section compares and contrasts Parker and Bambera's use of style. The difference in the styles is seen more closely on the Fifth Avenue when the children go there. They ask Miss Moore whether they can steal. Sugar screams for the toy saying the toy belonged to her and she was born for that. And was finally driven out of the shop. On the other hand Miss Annabel and Midgè seem to be quite polite on their parts when they had politely asked the price of the gem. The two styles differ in their respect for language. One is typical street language and the other one is little polite although the two stories have two young women narrators. But then the difference in illiterate and literate person’s language is obvious also. References Dorothy Parker's "The Standard of Living" (pages 337- 341) Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson" (pages 342-347)
After covering 262 pages of Raising Adults: A Humane Guide for Parenting in the New World, the reader would read four chapters, with plenty of subtopics, that enlightens him or her concerning teenagers and how to approach them. The author, Jim Hancock, fulfills his purpose within this book: to cultivate “people determined to be more intentional, more skillful, more realistic, more effective” concerning their relationships with teenagers. He successfully fulfilled his purpose by structurally discussing the current cultural composition of teenagers, and previous generations; strong relational skills that may aid an adult into becoming an effective parent; and practical strategies to raise adults. Although this book is extremely beneficial for any parent, it does have a con for me: it is too verbose. Namely, it could state what it attempts to convey in fewer words. After
I enjoyed reading Disciplined Hearts by Theresa O'Nell because i find that many people today do not know a lot about the Native American culture and what they have been through. Their cultures history is not talked about as much the African American or Hispanic's are. Most Americans know about the hardships that the African American and Hispanics had to overcome to assimilate to the level that they are today. I think O'Nell is trying to talk about the history of the Native American culture because, she believes that the reason that their culture is not well-known because of the fact that they have chosen to keep living like their ancestors and not assimilate to the American culture.
The points of view in “A&P” and “A Rose for Emily” show the fascination that people have with those in the upper class. Updike writes in the first person point of view. The narrator is Sammy, a cashier at the grocery store. Queenie, who walks around the A&P in only a bathing suit, fascinates him. Updike writes, “She had on a kind of dirty-pink… bathing suit with a little nubble all over it and, what got me, the straps were down.” (Updike, 2). He describes the girls in great detail throughout the story, obviously studying them. This first-person point of view shows the thoughts of Sammy, who is a member of the middle class. His fascination with Queenie is exemplary of the average person’s fascination with the rich. Sammy analyzes Queenie so much that he feels a particular connection to her, thinki...
The major theme of the story was creating awareness in adolescents about what life has to offer. The nature of human beings of accepting the realities of life to such an extent that apathy and lethargy sets in, is what proves to be destructive for the social fabric of today’s world. In this stagnation, Mrs. Moore provides the impetus required for people to realize their god given right to something better. We are told that Mrs. Moore has a college degree, is well dressed most of the times, and has a good command on her language. She seems to be a kind of a person who has seen the world. She has experienced life, and wants to use that experience in providing the children with an opportunity to broaden their horizons. This opportunity that she strives to provide is opening their eyes to the true nature of life and not by giving them money and bombarding their psyche with moralistic attitudes.
The Lesson, by Toni Cade Bambara, portrays a group of children living in the slums of New York City around 1972. They seem to be content living in poverty in some very unsanitary conditions. One character, Miss Moore, the children’s self appointed mentor, takes it upon herself to further their education during the summer months. She feels this is her civic duty because she is educated. She used F.A.O. Schwarz, a very expensive toystore, to teach them a lesson and inspire them to strive for success and attempt to better themselves and their situations.
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin and A Place Called Heaven by Cecil Foster
Toni Cade Bambara’s THE LESSON and David Adams Richards’s DANE stories each describe the lack of quality education and social inequality. Both these collections of stories focuses on children, and readers are able to see the effect of social and economic disadvantage to children and its long term effects. The author uses the paperweight to symbolize the importance of education in the story THE LESSON, the price of their future is going to be something that will have to strive for and look their past current dwellings. Each of two stories details the life and times of group of kids from the point of view of main characters. Bambara’s narrator is portrayed as a strong minded individual at the end of the story while Richards’s narrator, on the
“There is no doubt that education is important. There is also no doubt that every person has the right to an education” (Pharinet 680). Therefore, it makes it controversial that whether every American citizen should participate in tertiary education or not. One of the divergences in this controversy is that the vocational school is or is not accounted for tertiary education as college is. In On “Real Education”, the author, Robert T. Perry, claims that everyone should have experience of “postsecondary education”, no matter which kind of form it is (672). Since he defined the term “postsecondary education” clearly, he efficiently sells his ideas to most of audiences. However, he alienates the hostile and even neutral readers effectively because of the insufficiency of evidence or objectivity, the deficiency of credibility and the incompletion of logic.
Style is a literary technique that authors use to reveal information about various aspects of the narrative. Style can be utilized as a way for the audience to read between the lines and unveil key information. Pejorative language expresses criticism and bad opinions. Flannery O'Connor's pejorative style is exhibited in many of her short stories. From the dialogue of a convict in “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” to the thoughts of not so wise Hulga in “Good Country People” her pejorative style unveils the perceptions of characters.
Dorothy Parker’s writings are connected to her life in many ways. She grew up in a time where women’s roles where changing in society. She spent most of her life in New York City and most of her stories setting are of that city. She was married young and divorced in a short time, just as the Hazel in The Big Blonde. She was outgoing, sarcastic, and witty in a time when women were supposed to be docile. This style is shown throughout her work but particularly in The Waltz, where the status quo is displayed through the character’s conversation and Parker’s ideals are made known through the woman’s inter monologue. She combats a typical stereotype through mocking, in The Standard of Living. In this story the average woman is shown, as silly and almost material person. This work breaks the normalcy of the day by having them dress a little more risqué and being more independent. Dorothy Parker lets her sarcastic, ironic, dry humor shine a light on the inner workings of the woman and the plight they have with society.
The main things that changes the way a story is written is the audience, the author must be careful not say anything to offend the people he is writing for. Charles Perrault is a French man who used to write for the nobility and the middle class, so it is expected of him to write with a lighter tone to satisfy his dignified audience. He describes the pampered lifestyle of the two step sisters who put on their “gold-flowered cloak[s]” and their “diamond stomacher[s], which are far from being ordinary” (Perrault). He emphasizes the materialistic things that the step sisters posses and describes their wonderful, carefree world. The only concern of the step sisters is the prince’s ball, the girls were “wonderfully busy in selecting the gowns, petticoats, and hair dressing” (Perrault) that was the only thing they worried about throughout th...
Examining the Styles of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Catcher in the Rye
In each short story the character(s) the author highlights are young girls. This is first evident in the title alone in “Girl” where the title already gives the impression of a universally known stereotype as being young, and naïve. Although the title “A&P” does not suggest the same implication, within the story the reader learns quickly that the girls described in the story are in fact young, and innocent and lacking instruction just as the character in “Girl.” Understanding the characters is important because it sheds light on the reasons why they do what they do, and give reason to the plot. In which case, the characters even become the plot, such as the two short stories referenced. The girls described by Sammy in “A&P,” consume much of the story just by description, making it unmistakable their character. “...And then the third one, that wasn’t quite so tall. She was the queen. She kind of led them...” (Updike). Momentarily the reader is able to develop an image of these girls because everybody, young or old, most probably has been witness to this type of entourage throughout middle/high school. The girl being referred to by Sammy, Queenie, is oblivious to the fact she is stirring up the scene in the store, showing her naivety. Similarly, in “Girl” the fact that the young girl is being given instructions on how to behave as an adolescent girl by her mother, is reason to believe she is so inexperienced that her mother felt the instructions were necessary. The girls both have not realized the expectations society has upon the female population, nor the conseque...
The photograph, “The World’s Highest of Living” is an informative photo taken by Margaret Bourke-White.There are many people targeted but the main group that is targeting are White Americans. The method of this photo is Irony of the American dream, it also is comparing this dream vs its reality. The purpose is to inform others with a quick glance. The photograph shows irony and vagueness that hooks you to dig deeper. Although vagueness can be bad the artist used this as an advantage. She put enough information that you want more and not enough so you would understand. Margret also uses irony with the statement “The World's Highest Standard of Living.” The combination of the two makes a perfect hook to drag people in.
Despite the similarities in the time periods of the pieces, the use of language in them is very different. In Stephen Crane's “Maggie,” the audience is given the story of a poor family whose children grow up and experience difficulties due to their social position. As already noted, the dialog is treated in the story in a much different manner than the paragraphs which are written in a more eloquent manner. An example of this is: