Anika Ladero HUM 110-002 Professor Hart “The Promised Land” by Mary Antin The Promised Land is an autobiography written by Mary Antin. The book begins by Antin explaining her hometown in Russia, Polozyk. In Russia she lived under confined rules due to her religion and gender. The extent of women's education was only to serve as a housewife whereas men could pursue whatever they desired. Her mother and father were known for their high position as a business woman and a scholar. But after her father’s health began to decline- their fortune did as well. Antin’s father’s health eventually restored but his business had failed. Which lead him to move to America. Antin’s brother and mother followed their father several years later to Boston where she grew up. Antin anticipated her new life in America being able to do whatever she pleased. There were no boundaries for her. She was able to receive a secular education and pursue whatever she had interest in. She excelled in school and fostered her intelligence by regular trips to the library. Antin recalls her new life in America as a rebirth. She immersed herself in American life and had no second …show more content…
As Antin tries to immerse herself into America, she begins to identify herself from home as a completely different person. On page thirteen it reads that “My second birth was no less a birth because there was no distinct incarnation.” Antin even contemplates wether her recalled memories of Russia were someone else’s. “We are not born all at once, but by bits. The body first and the spirit later; and the birth and growth of the spirit, in those who are attentive to their own inner life, are slow and exceedingly painful.” (153) This quote explains Antin’s viewpoint on her identity. Because of the opportunities she was now able to have in America, she considers this as a rebirth. She views herself as a completely different
Although Susanna Kaysen’s ordinary world is somewhat unstable and ambiguous in its direction, and her call to adventure is life-threatening, Susanna’s circumstances set her on a journey of self-understanding and discovery. There are parallels between Kaysen and Alex McCandless, the
The two short stories, “The Princess of Nebraska” and “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” by Yiyun Li, depict the lives of two people under Chinese communist control, trapped by the social restraints of their society in search of individual salvation. In “Princess of Nebraska”, a young girl (Sasha) struggles to find internal purpose and satisfaction within her life, feeling that the restraints of communist control keep her from achieving the sense of self she desires. She believes the United States is the solution to gaining her individual freedom and fantasizes the recreation of her identity and life. Similarly, “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” revolves around the same theme of social freedom vs the discovery of the individual self. Mr.Shi,
Literature: Penguin Edition. The American Experience. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. 561-562. Print.
Smith’s and Bradford’s individual descriptions are simply two categories; fiction and nonfiction. Smith’s intention for his audience is that the new land is everything you can wish for without a single fight. Smith starts by describing the content and pleasure that risking your life for getting your own piece of land brings to people. He is luring his audience in by telling that it is a wonderful world of vast food and gratification. Smith wants his audience to be more of the joyful individuals who look for the good in everyt...
In Mark’s gospel, the references to Mary are: Mark 3:31-35, the family of Jesus visit him ,6:1-6, Jesus is rejected at Nazareth; Mary is not mentioned by name in this painful incident, but she was almost certainly there.
When she returned to Boston, she asked her grandmother if she could start another school in her grandmother’s dining room. After a bit of opposition, her grandmother agreed (Compton’s,...
Mary Rowlandson’s “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” and Benjamin Franklin’s “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America” are two different perspectives based on unique experiences the narrators had with “savages.” Benjamin Franklin’s “Remarks Concerning the Savages…” is a comparison between the ways of the Indians and the ways of the Englishmen along with Franklin’s reason why the Indians should not be defined as savages. “A Narrative of the Captivity…” is a written test of faith about a brutally traumatic experience that a woman faced alone while being held captive by Indians. Mary Rowlandson views the Indians in a negative light due to the traumatizing and inhumane experiences she went through namely, their actions and the way in which they lived went against the religious code to which she is used; contrastingly, Benjamin Franklin sees the Indians as everything but savages-- he believes that they are perfect due to their educated ways and virtuous conduct.
Now, as the family of four travels across the continent, the narrator is able to slough off all the obligations which society has dumped on her. Almost relieved, “we shed our house, the neighborhood, the city, and…our country” (378). On the road, she is no longer forced to hide from the friendly phone calls or household chores. The narrator has been freed on the highway to Ontario, Canada. The Prisoner of War, held under siege in her own home, is liberated to be “hopeful and lighthearted” (378). This trip becomes a break from the life that she’s is currently leading, a life which society thinks should make her content. With this new bit of freedom the narrator is able to form an identity for herself.
The busy season for the shop she was working on came and the owner of the shop kept demanding for what we call overtime. She got fired after she said, “I only want to go home. I only want the evening to myself!.” Yezierska was regretful and bitter about what happened because she ended up in cold and hunger. After a while she became a trained worker and acquired a better shelter. An English class for foreigners began in the factory she was working for. She went to the teacher for advice in how to find what she wanted to do. The teacher advised her to join the Women’s Association, where a group of American women helps people find themselves. One of the women in the social club hit her with the reality that “America is no Utopia.” Yezierska felt so hopeless. She wondered what made Americans so far apart from her, so she began to read the American history. She learned the difference between her and the Pilgrims. When she found herself on the lonely, untrodden path, she lost heart and finally said that there’s no America. She was disappointed and depressed in the
Crucet says, “I don’t even remember the moment they drove away,” but unlike the author’s family, mine left after I moved in, they did not stay the whole first week into my classes. After the first day of being alone, I wish they
An American Childhood, is a poignant, vivid memoir of the author’s experiences growing up in Pittsburgh in the 1950’s. Dillard’s primary focus in her memoir was to describe specifically the events of her childhood which revealed each facet of her developing personality and character as she transitioned from a confused child, to a rebellious teenager. Growing up, Annie was adventurous, imaginative and curious; constantly venturing into some new, exciting activity. Although immature at times, she was also quite reflective and intelligent- often analyzing the occurrences in her life in tremendous depth. One period in Annie’s life, back in 1950, when she was five was particularly interesting. She explains that those years around the 1950’s were
In "Good Country People," Flannery O'Connor skillfully presents a story from a third-person point of view, in which the protagonist, Joy-Hulga, believes that she is not one of those good country people. Joy is an intelligent and educated but emotionally troubled young woman, struggling to live in a farm environment deep in the countryside of the southeast United States, where she feels that she does not belong. Considering herself intellectually superior to the story's other characters, she experiences an epiphany that may lead her to reconsider her assumptions. Her experience marks a personal transition for her and constitutes the story's theme--the passage from naïveté to knowledge.
Ever since she was a young girl. Jeannette had set high goals for herself. Since she was so advanced in school and genuinely enjoyed learning, it made sense that she would want to do big things with her life. Whether it was being a veterinarian or a geologist, her dreams extended far beyond her homes in little desert towns or Welch, West Virginia. However, because of her poverty-stricken home life, many people believed it didn’t seem likely that she would be so successful. One day, while living in Welch, Jeannette goes to the bar to drag her drunk father back home. A neighborhood man offers them a ride back to their house, and on the ride up he and Jeannette start a conversation about school. When Jeannette tells the man that she works so hard in school because of her dream careers, the man laughs saying, “for the daughter of the town drunk, you sure got big plans” (Walls 183). Immediately, Jeannette tells the man to stop the car and gets out, taking her father with her. This seems to be a defining moment in which Jeannette is first exposed to the idea that she is inferior to others. Although this man said what he did not mean to offend her, Jeannette is clearly very hurt by his comment. To the reader, it seems as if she had never thought that her family’s situation made her subordinate to those
In literature, a dynamic character changes significantly as a result of events, conflicts, or other forces. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Mary Warren, the young servant of the Proctor’s is a dynamic character. Throughout the play, Mary’s personality takes a turn for the better. At the beginning of the play, Mary is shy, timid girl who hides in the shadows of Abigail Williams and lets people walk all over her. As the play develops, Mary realizes that what Abigail is doing isn’t right and rebels against Abby. Instead of following Abby, she follows in the footsteps of John Proctor to bring justice to the girl’s accusing innocent people of witchcraft.
via, Prentice Hall Literature: The American Experience. Upper Saddle River, N. J.: Pearson, 2010. 1126-233. Print.