Historical and Cultural context have to be one the most important parts of reading and analyzing works of literature. The historical context can give you background to better understand character’s actions in a story. Cultural context can also help explain a character’s action based on his or her beliefs. It can also explain why a character would do something in contrary to what is believed to be right.
Two examples of this can be found in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1930s. This was a time of terrible racial injustice for African-Americans, especially in the South. The setting for the story is Maycomb County, which is a fictional place in Alabama but the heartland of the South. The South was originally …show more content…
This story is set in the early 1960s, when President Kennedy was assassinated. This was a time when the Civil Rights Movement and indignation over racial inequality were at their peak. In the story, Elena lived in Patterson, New Jersey in a building filled with Puerto Rican immigrants just like her family. The day Kennedy was assassinated Elena had only one thing on her mind, the boy next door, Eugene. However, her dreams were crushed when Eugene mother turned her away because she was Puerto Rican. The mother was prejudiced towards Elena because of the color of her skin. Another example in this story can be found with Elena’s mother and the other women in their building. She was devastated when Kennedy was assassinated, as were most of the other immigrants in America at the time. To them President John F. Kennedy was a savior. You might even say he was considered practically a saint in their eyes. He was on the side of the immigrants and gave them hope. When he was killed they felt that had lost one of their greatest …show more content…
This is the story of a mother who wants her daughter to be a prodigy or do something amazing and be like a Chinese Shirley Temple. At first, her daughter is excited about it, but failure after failure wears her down and she gets sick of being a disappointment to her mother, her father and herself. The high expectation in their children is a trait that is unique to Chinese families. They believe that children carry on the legacy of the family and either bring honor or disgrace to its name.
In Barbara Kingsolver’s essay Going to Japan, you get a taste of Japanese culture and tradition. When Kingsolver visits Japan she feels out of place. In her mind, every move she makes is wrong and embarrassing. She later learns that the Japanese don’t expect outsiders to know all their rules of etiquette and it gives them great satisfaction to forgive. In Japan, it makes people very happy to forgive other’s
Two examples of this can be found in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1930s. This was a time of terrible racial injustice for African-Americans, especially in the South. The setting for the story is Maycomb County, which is a fictional place in Alabama but the heartland of the South. The South was originally …show more content…
This story is set in the early 1960s, when President Kennedy was assassinated. This was a time when the Civil Rights Movement and indignation over racial inequality were at their peak. In the story, Elena lived in Patterson, New Jersey in a building filled with Puerto Rican immigrants just like her family. The day Kennedy was assassinated Elena had only one thing on her mind, the boy next door, Eugene. However, her dreams were crushed when Eugene mother turned her away because she was Puerto Rican. The mother was prejudiced towards Elena because of the color of her skin. Another example in this story can be found with Elena’s mother and the other women in their building. She was devastated when Kennedy was assassinated, as were most of the other immigrants in America at the time. To them President John F. Kennedy was a savior. You might even say he was considered practically a saint in their eyes. He was on the side of the immigrants and gave them hope. When he was killed they felt that had lost one of their greatest …show more content…
This is the story of a mother who wants her daughter to be a prodigy or do something amazing and be like a Chinese Shirley Temple. At first, her daughter is excited about it, but failure after failure wears her down and she gets sick of being a disappointment to her mother, her father and herself. The high expectation in their children is a trait that is unique to Chinese families. They believe that children carry on the legacy of the family and either bring honor or disgrace to its name.
In Barbara Kingsolver’s essay Going to Japan, you get a taste of Japanese culture and tradition. When Kingsolver visits Japan she feels out of place. In her mind, every move she makes is wrong and embarrassing. She later learns that the Japanese don’t expect outsiders to know all their rules of etiquette and it gives them great satisfaction to forgive. In Japan, it makes people very happy to forgive other’s