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Coming of age in popular literature
Interpretation of dreams reference
Literary Criticism as Dream Analysis
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Recommended: Coming of age in popular literature
Voice and Ambivalence in Bless Me Ultima and Baby of the Family
Bless Me Ultima and Baby of the Family serve as the 'coming of age' stories of two minority children. Rudolfo Anaya and Tina McElory Ansa skillfully reveal the richness, diversity, and conflicts that can exist within the Hispanic-American and African-American cultures primarily through the dream sequences in each novel. Dreams are the mechanism used in each work to magnify the individual experiences and conflicts Tony and Lena encounter. In addition and perhaps, more importantly, Tony and Lena deal with ambivalence and find their voices not only through the relationships with other characters, but through the resolution of their dreams.
To truly fathom how integral and dependent the dreams are in the novels, a few definitions are in order. Dreams are defined, not only as "images passing through a sleeping person's mind" (Neufeldt 132). Dreams also include the mystical events or dream-like occurrences within each novel. Dreams are a way for each character to connect to the past and, perhaps reveal the future. The otherworldly experiences or dreams of Tony and Lena help guide them down the road of ambivalence, and eventually lead to an awakening or the attainment of 'voice.'
Webster's New World Dictionary defines ambivalence as "simultaneous conflicting feelings" (13). These 'conflicts' can be seen in external situations, and typically have serious internal implications. This condition is one of the defining factors of the Hispanic-American experience. Are Hispanics immigrants or minorities? In terms of religion, are they Catholic or Indian? Typically, Hispanic- Americans blend the two choices because neither situation totally applies to them. Perh...
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... Once Lena and Tony are reconciled to the swirling adventures that transpire around them, there is a resolution. A rebirth of sorts occurs for each character as they realize that they must take conflicting ideologies and mesh them together to form individual voices.
Works Cited
Ansa, Tina McElroy. Interview with Tina McElroy Ansa by Doubleday. Book Group Corner. http://www.randomhouse.com/resources/bookgroup/handifanwith_bgc.html. accessed 30 Oct. 2000.
Callahan, John F. In the African-American Grain: The Pursuit of Voice in Twentieth-Century Black Fiction. University of Illinois Press: Urbana and Chicago. 1988.
Neufeldt, Victoria, ed. Webster's New World Compact School and Office Dictionary. 1 vol. to date. MacMillan: USA. 1995.
Wood, Scott. "Book Reviews: 'Bless Me Ultima.'" Contemporary Literary Criticism. vol. 23 (1983): 22.
Landau, Sidney I., ed. The New International Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Naples: Trident International, 2002. Print.
Many people in the world are pressured into a job or marriage that they don't long to be in, and don’t know how to cope or choose what to do. In Bless Me, Ultima Antonio experiences the same concept with his parents; his mother has her heart set on him being a priest, but his dad longs for him to be a cowboy, and Antonio doesn't know what to do. But, Antonio shouldn't be pressured to choose between the occupations or his fate , he should discover what he desires to do and figure out himself. One of the main themes of Bless Me, Ultima is the value of Independence, and Anaya uses juxtaposition to reinforce it.
3. Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 51: Afro-American Writers from the Harlem Renaissance to 1940. A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book. Edited by Trudier Harris, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Gale Group, 1987. pp. 133-145.
Innocence is referred to as one’s purity to the world. The loss of innocence occurs with the gain of knowledge. However, knowledge and understanding the ways of the world can only be obtained through exposure. In Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, the author reveals how exposure negatively impacts a person’s loss of innocence through newly found insight on the world. This is by the uses of word usage, contrast, and tone.
Tradition in the United States of America.” Black American Literature Forum, Vol. 12, No. 4. (Winter, 1978): 140-177.
Lawrence, L. (2007). Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom. London: Sage Publishers.
James, Johson Weldon. Comp. Henry Louis. Gates and Nellie Y. McKay. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2004. 832. Print.
Barry Levinson brings us a Raymond, very moving character in the movie Raymond Babbitt. Raymond is a grown man that is Autistic. Raymond may be grown up but he lacks certain sociable skills, making communication very difficult. He has a hard time understanding and answer questions. Because of Raymond’s handicap he is unable to progress into a new person. Raymond’s limitations give the movie boundaries. Levinson uses the idea of not allowing this character to change to affect the other characters in this story. The character that is most affected is Raymond’s brother, Charlie. At the beginning Charlie is frustrated and short on cash, his father has died and Charlie received no inheritance, his father had left it all to Charlie’s unknown brother, Raymond. When Charlie first meets Raymond he thinks it is a big joke, the way Raymond acts. Although, all he can seem to think about is why no one ever told him that he had a brother. Charlie makes it out to seem like he really wants to take Raymond in with him and take care of him, at this point Charlie is taking Raymond from the institute where he is being taken care of in hopes of trading Raymond back for part of his inheritance. When he is refused, Charlie runs off with Raymond beginning a cross-country journey that would change Charlie completely.
in the rainforest. I felt like I had to write this letter. I believe I
Coleman, James W. Faithful Vision: Treatments of the Sacred, Spiritual, and Supernatural in Twentieth-century African American Fiction. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 2006. Print.
Margolies, Edward. “History as Blues: Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man.” Native Sons: A Critical Study of Twentieth-Century Negro American Authors. J.B. Lippincott Company, 1968. 127-148. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Daniel G. Marowski and Roger Matuz. Vol. 54. Detroit: Gale, 1989. 115-119. Print.
Oprah Winfrey once said, “The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened.” But, what actually is a dream and what do dreams really have to do with one’s everyday life? In essence, a dream is a series of mental images and emotions occurring during slumber. Dreams can also deal with one’s personal aspirations, goals, ambitions, and even one’s emotions, such as love and hardship. However, dreams can also give rise to uneasy and terrible emotions; these dreams are essentially known as nightmares. In today’s society, the concept of dreaming and dreams, in general, has been featured in a variety of different mediums, such as literature, film and even music. While the mediums of film and music are both prime examples of this concept, the medium of literature, on the other hand, contains a much more diverse set of examples pertaining to dreams and dreaming. One key example is William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While the portrayal of dreams, in general, plays a prominent role in Shakespeare’s play, the exploration of many aspects of nature, allows readers to believe that dreams are merely connected to somewhat unconventional occurrences.
Johnson, Anne. Janette. “Toni Morrison.” Black Contemporary Authors. A Selection of Contemporary Authors.
Rainforests help stabilize the world's climate by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is believed to contribute to climate change through global warming. Therefore rainforests have an important in addressing global warming.
Penelope and Paul are broken when they know about their daughter’s leaving plan; they start to have suspicion about their vain life choices. Meantime, Tony desperately attempts to convince Alice to stay and marry him, but Alice rejects to meet him again. Forcedly, despite what happened in the previous night, the Vanderhof family’s weird actions keep reoccurring. Kolenkhov comes and asks the former Grand Duchess, Olga Katrina, who is from Russia and works at Child’s Restaurant at Times Square as a waitress for dinner. Greeted enthusiastically by the Vanderhoff, Katrina instantly gets into the kitchen to prepare her famous and delicious blintzes. Mr. Kirby suddenly shows up at the door and exerts to get Tony to go home with him. After the circumstance seems most serious, Tony and Alice start to lose hope on love and they see their love as an impossible hopeless dream. Grandpa Vanderhof begins with his philosophy of putting the happiness over money, ambitions, financial profits and successes. Grandpa persuades Tony, Mr. Kirby, and Alice not to abandon their dreams and not to lose hope on love. Mr. Kirby takes Grandpa's advice and agrees to stay for dinner. More importantly, Alice accepts to get married to Tony. At the final of the play, Grandpa reveals how he has been capable