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The role of the woman in literature
The role of the woman in literature
Theme and characterization of the outsider by albert camus
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I was out alone one evening, in an upmarket part of San Francisco. I went to one of those swish bars... you know the kind, low lights and smooth Pat Metheny-style Latin jazz, tinkling through the speakers. The day had been frustrating. I’d had a succession of meetings to attend, mostly with difficult, demanding clients. Sometimes, I’J thinking in those meetings, when some overbearing suit says something arrogant: ‘Ya feel lucky punk...’ (Dirty Harry: always a good tension release).
The bar wasn’t crowded, so I sat back and sipped at a glass of Merlot, occasionally dipping at a bowl of olives. I was reading a book, The Outsider, by Albert Camus. I’d got to the execution scene, where the anti-hero is facing imminent death with existential fearlessness. Although this may not strike you as light after-work reading, I’ve always found the
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She was really striking and pretty. What I liked about her was she was really black, not one of those cappuccino girls you see in the movies, the kind of girl who could easily be a Latina or an Italian. No, Leah was really ebony. Her skin shone like black leather. I liked her immediately. She was one of those girls who just had ‘it’ - whatever ‘it’ is.
We both knew there was an affinity between us from the get-go and chatted for ages about everything imaginable; the state of the world economy, movies we liked, arts we were into, our respective backgrounds, little flirting probes at each other’s sexuality; that metal dance you do when you meet someone you instinctively fancy for the first time. Leah told me she was a lawyer, originally from Boston, said she’d studied Law at Yale and had worked her way up in a firm specializing in intellectual property rights, here, in San
Ten minutes after lining up, I went inside the nightclub. From the door, I could hear the song and the beat of the bass so loud that my heart could feel it. Inside the nightclub, I saw people were dancing everywhere, on dancing floor, on their own seats, everywhere. They would dance and take a big gulp of their beer. Even the bartenders were dancing too, following the rhythm of the loud funky music. The rainbow rays of light moved through the club to make the mood even more exciting and funky.
In chapter one we are introduced to our narrator, Ponyboy. Ponyboy is raised by his two older brothers Darry and Soda. They’re all apart of a gang called the “greasers” which is joined by Dally, Johnny, Two-bit, and Steve. There is another group called “ socs” which stands for socials, and everyone in that group is very wealthy. One day Ponyboy got jumped by a socs group, but luckily Darry was there to help before anything too serious happened. The first element of literature is characterization. Ponyboy is a keen observer, trying to make sense of the complexities of those around him. At the beginning of the story, he stops and spends several pages giving us brief character description on Steve, Two-Bit, Dally, and Johnny. This is also known as direct characterization. He tells us that Steve is "cocky and smart" ( Hinton 9). Two-Bit can 't stop joking around and goes to school for "kicks" (Hinton 10) rather than to learn. Dallas, he says, is "tougher, colder, meaner" ( Hinton 10) than the rest of them.
In Justin Pearson's memoir, From the Graveyard of the arousal Industry, he recounts the events that occured from his early years of adolesence to the latter years of his adulthood telling the story of his unforgiving and candid life. Set in the late 1970s "Punk" rock era, From the Graveyard of the Arousal Industry offers a valuable perspective about the role culture takes in our lives, how we interact with it and how it differs from ideology.
One of life’s most memorable moments is learning to ride a bike. At first, nothing in the world could seem more difficult and scary. To move past the safety of training wheels is terrifying; it’s comfortable without knowing how. Learning to ride is the same, if not worse. It’s wobbly, falling countless times is inevitable. The fact that the bicycle could stand up straight on just two wheels is insane! Though it takes tremendous amounts of hard work, the end result is worth it. Sooner or later, riding a bike is easy! The Outsiders tells the story of 14 year old Ponyboy Curtis,and his struggle with right and wrong in a society in which he is an “outsider”. As Ponyboy, the lower-class gang of "greasers" battle the "Socs," the rich kids, they learn about overcoming the obstacles in their life, which all revolve around social class. Throughout the story, Ponyboy goes through many obstacles including the death of several of his closest friends. He learned that it shouldn’t matter where someone lives, or what amount of money they have. The Time Machine, describes a man who traveled to the year 802,701, where he met two groups of creatures: the Eloi and the Morlocks. The Eloi were small creatures who lived above the ground in crumbling buildings. They were shiftless and not very bright, but they were content. He rescued and befriended a particular Eloi named Weena. However, after learning that his time machine had been stolen, he discovered another group, the Morlocks. These creatures lived below ground in tunnels. The Morlocks were sinister and mischievous. The Time Traveller needed to get his machine back so he could take Weena back home with him, but instead, they were attacked by Morlocks. Throughout the battle, Weena was killed,...
Is it better to be an individual or conform to expectations just to fit in like others? This choice is faced by Ponyboy Curtis, the narrator, throughout S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. He belongs to the Greasers, a group of delinquent friends, who are viewed by many as poor and dangerous, while the rival Socs are viewed as rich, smart, and powerful causing the Greasers to envy them. Ponyboy learns from Randy Adderson, a Soc who is trapped by stereotype threat, that their lives are not as perfect as he expected it to be and they too face problems. In addition, Ponyboy tries to act tough and fit in with the rest of gang, but his Greaser companions, such as Two-Bit Matthews, teach him to embrace his own characteristics which sets him apart from
The Outsiders is about the life of a 14-year-old boy. The book tells the story of Ponyboy “Curtis” and his struggles with right and wrong in a society in which he believes that he is an outsider. Ponyboy and his two brothers, Darrel (Darry), who is 20, and Sodapop, who is 16, have recently lost their parents in an automobile accident. Pony and Soda are allowed to stay under Darry's guardianship as long as they all behave themselves. The boys are greasers, a class term that refers to the young men on the East Side, the poor side of town. The greasers' rivals are the Socs, short for Socials, who are the "West-side rich kids."
Walker, Alice. “Everyday Use.” Robert DiYanni, ed. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 6th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007.
Unfamiliarity, in the broadest sense, can evoke a feeling of fear or anxiety. However, my unique cultural upbringing has made me comfortable with unfamiliarity, and eager to embrace differences among people with compassion and tolerance. I am the product of a cultural infusion—I was born in the United Kingdom to an English father, but was influenced by the Turkish customs of my mother. While living in England, I grew up eating dinner on the floor, listening to Turkish music on the radio, and waking up to a poster of Kemal Ataturk. I spent every summer living in Turkey where I learned the language, saw the way different people lived, and became familiar with the practices of Islam. At 14 years old I was immersed in yet another culture when I
How do you label someone as an outsider? Some might say that an outsider is when a person encounters an external conflict, such as not meeting worldly standards or some who face internal conflicts by feeling like they don’t fit in or belong. The argument on whether the experience of being an outsider in universal is a very controversial topic. Some may state that outsiders are not a universal experience, and others may strongly disagree. In the stories we learned; “Sonnet, With Bird”, a poem by Sherman Alexie, “The Revenge of the Geeks”, an argumentative essay by Alexandra Robbins, and “The Doll House”, a short story by Katherine Mansfield are all stories that portrayed examples of being an outsider. In other words, the experience of being
As a child, have you ever felt a sense of isolation or alienation? At some point in our lives, we may feel as though we don't belong or that we are alone. There has been a time at one point or another where everyone has felt this way. This sense of isolation can lead to constant fear for one's own safety as well as feeling unwanted. As a child, I would soon know the feeling of alienation, and the potential danger that it would bring.
I remember hearing the day before about people protesting. People were talking about these protests being violent and that it had happened before. That night I went to sleep scared knowing that the next day I had school. I was hoping that school would be cancelled the next day and if they hadn't then my mom wouldn't let me go, but knowing the school system there was no way they were going to close schools and my mom would not let me stay home if the school didn't close because if I didn't attend school there was a good chance they would fail me for that year. The next day I woke up still scared, I got ready and waited for my sisters to come out, so we could walk like we usually did every day. Walking to school everything was normal, and everyone was going about their business. It seemed like nothing was going to happen and I was relieved.We walked until we reached our favorite morning food stand and I bought my sisters and I plantain chips and we continued to walk down the dusty street until it was time for me to go a different route. We said our goodbyes. I waited until I couldn't see them anymore and crossed the street into the neighborhood with the weird little white church that constantly had people screaming, I've heard many things about this church.
Days went by and the more comfortable it was to wake up to honking cars, business woman’s heels clicking on the pavement and flashing lights. Everyday, the sun’s light reflects off of my apartment's broad windows. I wake each day to put on a tight dress which make curvaceous, voluptuous body stand out. I would walk or find a taxi to take me to work, which was at Bellissimo Magazine. I was a journalist who would take celebrity stories and write long articles but I wasn’t very experienced since I had never dreamed of getting this job. It was rare for anyone inexperienced to get hired. This was the fashion and entertainment industry and I would work hard to impress my sophisticated boss, Joan. She was a hardworking woman but she’s also become like a best friend to me, which was kind of weird to think about but it was true. People here have made me feel welcomed for more than a month now and I think it was time to move on with my life and begin new friendships and find my one true
The Outsider, written by Albert Camus, and The Trial, written by Franz Kafka, are two books that have been critically acclaimed since the time that they were published. There are critics that claim that The Outsider is a dull book, and is not even a read-worthy book. Other people claim that it shows us how society actually acts upon people who do not want to be like the rest of society. The Trial falls under the same kind of criticism; but both books, although written by different writers in a different époque, fall under the same kind of genre: Imprisoned Lives. In both The Outsider and The Trial there are many people who influence the protagonists in a positive and in a negative way, but none of those characters are as important as the priest. The priest, being of the same profession in both books and trying to accomplish the same kind of tasks, have a totally different effect on the two protagonists. In The Outsider the priest changes the whole attitude that Meursault has to life, whereas in The Trial the priest tells Joseph K. how his life actually is.
Damn it! Samantha is starting to cry, but I don’t want to say that I’m sorry even though I probably should. I am sorry. Sort of sorry. Like so many things, I really don’t care. Sometimes, I think about going to see someone, sorting all of this shit out. There will always be a need for those people. People you pay hundreds of dollars to, just to tell you that you have abandonment issues and describe how you can’t really feel anything. Thanks, I know. Just the thought of going to one of those big looking offices and sitting in a waiting room with a bunch of other people with a bunch of other problems, pretending not to look at each other. And then it’s my turn to sit in front of a complete stranger and bitch and moan
Albert Camus’s novel The Outsider is a fictional narrative that presents strong philosophical themes such as the irrationality of the universe and meaningless of human life. Throughout the novel it is clear that the narrator and protagonist – a young man named Meursault – is the only character that is able to understand and appreciate these ideas or philosophical truths. It is for this reason that he is an outsider. Accordingly, other social groups, including women, are represented as shallow as they constantly attempt to identify or create rational structure and meaning in their lives – Camus’s notion of absurdity. Women are a social group that show attributes of attachment, hope and ambition all of which in the novel are a futile attempt to impose rationality when none exists. Thus, Camus implies that women are shallow — lacking the deeper understanding of the universe.