Could you survive living in constant poverty? This was the reality for author Jeannette Walls. In her book, The Glass Castle: A Memoir, Walls describes growing up in a dysfunctional family with an alcoholic father and a childish mother. After Walls published her book, Alex Witchel of The New York Times Magazine interviewed her. Within the article, “How Jeannette Walls Spins Good Stories Out of Bad Memories,” Witchel recounts her visit to the farm where Walls lives with her husband and mother.…
In order to become talented in a specific sport it takes practice, patience, and athleticism but over time it is very possible for an ordinary person to achieve this status. However, in order to become the best in the world, that presents a completely different story. Through the eyes of both Tom “Digger” Stapleton and Sadie Jorgensen in Angie Abdou’s novel The Bone Cage, the reader quickly learns the difference between becoming an athlete and becoming an Olympian. Both of these Olympic hopefuls put their lives on hold in order to hopefully achieve this standard of greatness. Neither person has long term goals for the future after the Olympics, they subsist week to week and both have sacrificed the majority of their lives for the opportunity…
Many people believe that success correlates with talent and hard work of an individual person. Contradicting this belief, Malcolm Gladwell states in his book Outliers: The Story of Success, that success is seized opportunities and advantages that only certain people get. Gladwell claims that advantages like social class, date of birth, family background, and luck is what determines the likelihood of success. Despite that he has strong evidence that supports these claims he overlooks the importance of hard work and dedication. In the memoir The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, she describes how she grew up in poverty and in a dysfunctional family that constantly moved around.…
Though eventually she disproves this to herself, most of the book she believed this. Melinda made it a point not to talk to anyone, avoiding every opportunity to talk. When her ‘fake friend’ Heather asks her for her to do a countless number of things that benefit only Heather, she shuts her trap and goes along with all of it. Until towards the end, when Melinda once and for all throws Heather to the curb, this treatment hurts Melinda even more. Subconsciously Melinda knows Heather is using her, she goes along with it in fear of appearing friendless.…
This quote is perfect for describing The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls because even through all of their struggles they stay together as a family. They had many problems going on throughout their life but they managed to work together and get through them as a family. * The walls family worked together to stay positive, have a better quality of life and to overcome poverty. *…
She doesn’t want to make the same mistakes both her parents made. She wants to be different. She has a list of rules she has made, like; don’t make no friends, don’t fall in love, and also don’t be like her parents. But does Mandy actually follow the rules she has set for herself. Mandy is the main character in the book Breaking Rules, she is a quite and neat girl.…
Brandon Siron Anne Henley Rowe ENG 112 27 September 2017 Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Final Draft In the short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? " Written by Joyce Carol Oates, is a fiction about a rebellious fifteen-year-old girl named Connie. She is obsessed with her appearance and avoids her mother when she tries to tell her that her appearance isn't what's important. Connie wants to get attention from boys until she gets attention from the wrong boy.…
When answering the discussion questions, we all responded similarly because we all felt similar emotions as the game was being played. For one thing, we all agreed that Kelly had an advantage in the game. We all knew this but what was surprising was that fact that she stated in her personal response that she “felt bad that [she] had a huge advantage over everyone else...it didn’t seem fair”. This was considered surprising since it is commonplace that people who have an advantage over others do not consider other people’s feelings, emotions, or opinions. They tend to not feel bad but rather enjoy their circumstance.…
She persists and keeps talking to Lennie and says, “ Wha’s the matter with me? … Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody?” (87). She is frustrated while she is saying this because everyone that she tries to talk to just casts her…
A Home for Maisie 212417193 1 A Home for Maisie 212417193 A Home for Maisie 212417193 2 THE MULTIDIMENSIONAL APPROACH Maisie's behavior can be interpreted in many different ways, for example using the multidimensional approach we find that there are some similarities between Hutchison's definition of Personal dimensions and Maisie. The psychological person consists of cognition, emotion, and self identity (Hutchison 2013). Maisie is very emotionally unstable, and has little sense of identity.…
Julia Alvarez presents the theme of familial relationships throughout the novel, How the García Girls Lost Their Accents. One major aspect of the familial relationships is the expectations that are put on Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofía as they are thrown into a new world and become apart of this new lifestyle, while also not losing their roots. Mamí repeatedly illustrates the pressures that she is putting on the girls. Laura is more focused on making sure everything looks right, rather than paying attention to what is really going on. She desperately wanted her family to become apart of the great American society, so she would spend her time “inventing gadgets to make life easier for the American Moms,” (138) rather than helping her daughters…
After the fight that Jeannette’s mom and dad had. The mom got up with the kids and applied for a job at the Battle Mountain Intermediate School and was hired on the spot because she had a teaching degree. Her mother hated teaching because her own mother was a teacher and pushed her into getting a degree in that so she would have a job to fall back on if her plans on being an artist failed. She was so angry that her mother might’ve been right all along. The only thing that really unsettled me was when she was trying to Miss Beatty that she was capable of disciplining her students.…
Transition of an individual is usually difficult; they face issues and challenges along the road yet are able to discover themselves better after the consequence. Transitioning can be confronting, exciting or even demanding. Tom Brennan, the protagonist in The Story of Tom Brennan is haunted by an accident and is faced with a hard transition, and as with the other members of his family, with the use of first person and colloquial language, J.C. Burke demonstrates the outcome of a transition can be resulted through new knowledge, a shift of attitude and a deeper understanding of one’s self and others. The different pathways an individual takes influences the transitioning of their new life.…
He has a lack of freedom as wherever he goes he will not be accepted as a normal member of society. Plus the fact that he has a crooked back and is of a relatively old age will also hold him back. Curley's Wife: Curley's wife has got the extra problem of never being able to talk to anyone without seeming like a tramp.…
My character, Catherine, was in a contradictory relationships with her now deceased father, Robert. She has given up her life to make him comfortable in his last days, but is bitter because she has missed many opportunities and in his shadow. Catherine’s relationship with her father’s old student, Harold Dobbs, is contradictory. At first the two characters are forced into be acquaintances but attraction is developed and they become confrontational partners. Although, Catherine has a much more complex relationship with her older sister, Claire.…