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More handpicked essays just for you.
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The Bicycle, by Jillian Horton, and Wadjda, by Haifaa Al-Mansour are considered similar as they share a common theme. In The Bicycle and Wadjda, both main characters, Hannah and Wadjda, break the expectations of those around them to assert their own identity. Hannah and Wadjda have rules set around them that conflict with their own wants. In The Bicycle, Hannah is forbidden from riding a bike like the other kids: “I only have two rules in this house … You will not ride a bicycle” (38), said by Hannah’s aunt, Tante Rose. Similarly, Wadjda is not allowed to ride a bike, however this is decided by society. These rules hold them down, and prevent them from letting their individuality show. In addition, Hannah and Wadjda let their true self show
In the Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett, Homer and Mother Maria both display straightforward, hardworking, and stubborn character traits. Firstly, Homer and Mother Maria both display a straightforward personality by being brutally honest about their opinions. For example, when Mother Maria asks Homer to build a chapel, Homer speaks his mind by telling her he does not want to build it. Mother Maria shows her straightforward behavior during Homer’s stay at the convent. One morning, when Homer sleeps in late, Mother to becomes extremely upset and is not afraid to show how she feels about him. Secondly, both Homer and Mother Maria display a hardworking spirit. Homer is a hardworking man because after finally agreeing to build the chapel,
In both genres, Hannah still goes back in time and experiences life in the camps. Aunt Eva is still the same person. The theme in both is about remembering what had happened. Jane Yolen and the director of the film are both jewish. They both want us to remember that the atrocity of the holocaust was real and something that should be studied so we will not make the mistake of prosecuting a person because of their religion again.
The novel Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff is mainly about a seventeen year old girl named Jolly, who encounters many difficulties as she has two children from two different, absent fathers. Jolly desperately needs help raising her two children, Jeremy and Jilly, and LaVaughn helps babysit temporarily. LaVaughn is caught up in Jolly’s problems and she guides her on the right path. However, LaVaughn cannot sacrifice her academics to babysit for her because she wants to go to college and she wants to start to build her future. These two main characters take separate paths as they each develop and mature throughout the stages of the novel and they have similarities and differences. Both, Jolly and LaVaughn, illustrate actions that demonstrate the theme of “making lemonade” from the situations they are given.
Most outcasts of history had a particular, exclusive life; full of struggles against the society ever since birth and grew up with a heart made out of steel from the harsh criticism they have endured. They differ from the community within their beginning to their end, and many of their stories end up becoming legends and gaps of the past that nobody will be able to reincarnate. China’s first and last female emperor, Wu Zetian, was one of these exclusives. Ever since birth, her history of tactics to the people around her; in order to ascend the throne, juxtaposed towards society’s attitudes of women at the time; through her breakdown of gender stereotypes and quick knowledge, and offered a new perspective to the world of just how cruel and beautiful women can be. She successfully destructed all accumulated views of women in the Tang Dynasty, and created her future in the way she wanted it – on top of every man in her country. She was an outcast – somebody who juxtaposed against the demands of her. She was history.
“Riding the Bus with My Sister” by Rachel Simon is a touching, true life journey about Beth and her sister Rachel. Beth and Rachel are in there thirties at the time the book takes place. They were born eleven months apart and aside of their age difference and their personality, Beth is different from Rachel because she suffers from mental retardation. Beth has lived on her own in her subsidized apartment and enjoys riding the bus routes around Pennsylvania city. Beth asked Rachel to come stay a year with her in order to accompany her in her daily bus route routine and Rachel agreed. “Riding the Bus with My Sister” documents Rachel’s remarkable journey her and her sister spent together and her learnings from Beth. Simon presents views on how those with mental retardation should be treated and self-determination.
“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy of each other’s life” -Richard Bach. Far from the Tree by Robin Benway explores the meaning of family, and the impact that loved ones have on identity. The novel tells the story of three siblings who have three very different lives reunite after spending all of their lives separately. Grace, Maya and Joaquin grow dependant on one another, and unknowingly give and take values from each other that help them solve their own issues slowing being brought to light. With the help of his parents and siblings, Joaquin reveals a critical capacity for change as he leaves his old self behind and moves on to a better future with a loving family.
This story is told from the view of the younger sister, Katie, who learns about life, love and perseverance through the perceptive guidance of her sister Lynn. The two sisters have a bond that makes this story heart touching and holds the 6th-8th grade readers' imagination. The format uses a child's view to gradually introduce readers to topics of prejudice, cultural differences, and hardships. The following is an example from page 34.
In “Araby” and “Boys and Girls” the plots illustrate that both of the adolescents experience the common phase of growing up. They learn the universal lesson of how different the world is, compared to how they would like to see. The young boy in “Araby” grows into a young man and the girl in “Boys and Girls” accepts the reality that she is a girl. Freeing the horse was like freeing herself. The protagonists in both stories go through learning experience that we all go through, but the way in which these learning experience occur differs with each of us.
Many young people prefer to follow their dreams, yet than to follow their parents’ footsteps In Alice Walker‘s short story, "Everyday Use,” the older daughter, Dee, never desired to follow the country lifestyle of her mother, instead chose to rebel against it. Meanwhile, in Amy Tan’s short story, “Two Kinds,” Jing-mei Woo chose to break away from her mother’s persistence to become a prodigy, and be true to herself. Both females refused to follow the road that both their families had always pushed them toward. Rather, they preferred to become their own persons and fight for their own identities. Dee and Jing-mei Woo both share similarities by refusing to follow their parents; rather they have chosen to follow their own destinies.
"Two Kinds" by Amy Tan is about the intricacies and complexities in the relationship between a mother and daughter. Throughout the story, the mother imposes upon her daughter, Jing Mei, her hopes and dreams for her. Jing Mei chooses not what her mother wants of her but only what she wants for herself. She states, "For, unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be. I could be only me" (Tan 1). Thus this "battle of wills" between mother and daughter sets the conflict of the story.
...ious mother daughter comparisons they also contain the same hidden lesson. The two stories share an interesting lesson for the mother and daughter. The lesson is, you can teach a girl how to behave but you can’t make her behave when her mother’s not looking. “The Fat Girl” exhibits this lesson by the way Louise sneaks extra food knowing her mother wouldn’t allow it. In the story “Girl” however the mother is aware of the lesson, shown by her concern that daughter will become a slut even though she has taught her not to be.
A Pair of Tickets by Amy Tan tells about a daughter, June-May, who travels to China to meet her twin sisters and announce the death of their mother. The issue at hand is that June-May has never been to China, nor has she ever met her twin sisters. June-May worries of not fitting in and standing out as an American is China. She has lived her life under the impression that nothing other than her parent’s origin makes her Chinese. This all changes once she is in China. It is in China that she begins to realize the meaning of love and self identity. The true transformation begins to set in once she learns of her mother’s hardships and meets her family members in China for the first and the last time. By the end of the store, June-May has not only become her mother but has also become China.
Araby is about escaping into the world of fantasy. The narrator is infatuated with his friend's sister; he hides in the shadows, peering secluded from a distance trying to spy her "brown figure"(Joyce 38). She is the light in his fantasy, someone who will lift him out of darkness. I see many parallels to my life as a boy growing up in the inner city of Jersey City. We looked for escape also, a trip uptown to Lincoln Park, or take a train ride to New York City where we would gaze at the beauties on 7th Ave.
The ugly sister and her mother treat the pretty sister very poorly and give her no respect. They make her clean and tend to all the chores of the house. Her mother also makes her spin thread by a well everyday. After the pretty one loses the spindle down the well, the mother yells and scolds her for doing such a stupid thing and tells her to get the spindle back. The pretty one is never given what she deserves, nor is she rewarded by doing anything she is supposed to do.
I was so tired of riding my red and silver scooter around thanks to my two older sisters Vanessa and Nora. Wherever we decided to go they always rode their bikes no matter how close or far we were going especially since it was summer time. They always found a way in getting me upset mostly when they enjoyed making fun of me just because they arrived before me or they had to wait for me to arrive. If my sisters had to wait they would yell or begin calling me unnecessary names. Since then that became a reason for me to learn learn how to ride a bike. Due to my constant nagging my father began teaching me by letting me use my sister Nora’s bike since it had brakes. Nora's bike was perfect for me but I hated the color for being a bright yellow. I wanted to learn how to ride with Vanessa's bike but my father said no since it had no breaks but it really wasn't a big problem for me because all I wanted was to learn how to ride.