1954 births

Everywhere you look in life there are different sorts of symbols and conflicts, especially in literature that’s what makes reading it so interesting, the things these authors can do with words. I have chosen three different works; Survivors by Kim Addonizio, American Gothic by John Stone and, The Blizzard by David Ives. In this paper, I am going to give you some examples of symbols and conflicts in these works and my responses/thoughts on those topics. The Blizzard was written in 2006, in this there were many different conflicts and symbols that made it for an interesting play to read. One of the conflicts I found in this play was with Neil he stated, “Thanks for that. I’m still not used to it. Being so remote. Natures always scared the living crap out of me. Now I am living in it” (Ives pg 2018). Given his background of being scared of nature and then choosing to go live on a remote mountain doesn’t seem like a smart choice, but it does make a good play into the idea that Ives is promoting for the conflict. The other example was with Neil’s wife Jenny. After Salim and Natasha show up which Neil and Jenny are both confused and had an uneasy feeling about, left Jenny throughout most of the play telling Neil, “Send them away” (Ives 2020). If two strangers who I had never meant showed up on my doorstep in the middle of a blizzard, let alone being so remote on the side of a mountain from what it sounds like in the middle of nowhere I would also be a bit uneasy and be asking them…

Maxwell Maltz, author of a novel that explains how one can improve their self image, writes, “You will act like the sort of person you conceive yourself to be.” How a person acts is directly related to the level of self esteem they have. It is natural that a person with vanity carries themselves more confidently and is more assertive, whereas a lack of dignity negatively affects their attitude and outlook. Our impressions of ourselves are perplexed by daily comparisons to those surrounding us.…

I used to think that giving birth was overrated and believed that the emotional rollercoaster leading up the birth was insincere. In my opinion, giving birth had always seemed frightening, long and most of all painful. Surprisingly, my whole outlook on giving birth and its emotional impact changed when I gave birth to my first child, Joy. I remember the day as if it was yesterday, despite the fact that it took place almost nine years ago. It was a rainy Sunday in February when I invited my best…

its operations in pursuit of profits for its corporate executives. They continue to brandish themselves under the guise of McDonalds brand only because of the cultural capital it has amassed makes it easier to make profits, but if the brand ever became too toxic it is simply expendable. There are some operations though that McDonaldization does seem to exist symbiotically with, this being the temporal expansion of McDonaldization into the sector birthing and life. It must be considered that…

Condoms and birth control, have really changed society throughout the years? Did you know the first condoms date back to Egyptian times, it is also the oldest form of birth control recorded. The condoms were starting to be discovered in the year of 1855. Gregory Pincus and John Rock first conducted the first human trial on 50 women in Massachusetts in 1954. Other parts of the world also used condoms. In Japan some of the condoms were made of leather and others were made of tortoise shells. In…

Thalidomide, also known as α – N(phthalimido) glutarimide , was first developed in 1954 by a German pharmaceutical company called Grünenthal in Stolberg. In 1957, under the brand name Contergan , it was marketed as a sedative, tranquiliser and antiemetic that was found to be effective when prescribed to pregnant women to help combat the many symptoms associated with morning sickness. Chemically similar to barbituates, the drug became a popular sedative and by the following year, although it…

The middle class back in the 1960s was not opposed to the ideal fact of poor black women substancing a birth control pill to stop them from having children. The argument for this time was the middle class wanted them not to take the pill, The counter argument that African American women at the time questioned by the authorities were that they were afraid if the whites made them take birth control pills than they control how many kids they are having. One article reads “ Under slavery, African…

The history of birth control goes back as far as 3000 B.C. when condoms were made out of fish bladder or animal intestines. In 1916 Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in Brooklyn with contraceptives that she smuggled from Europe. At this time “birth control was a radical idea that challenged conventional notions of women’s sexuality and reproduction” (483). Before 1916 both genders struggled to get birth control. In 1873 The Comstock Act allowed mail carriers to confiscate…

since the 19th century, but they also have stayed the same in few ways. The Industrial Revolution catalyzed a transformation in which men and women came together. In 1963, people started participating in sexual intercourse (Griffin). Societies began to “construct a web of customs and taboos designed to control sexual activity and ensure some kind of balance between the birth rate and the number of mouths the society is able to feed” (Griffin). For example, they started placing dowries on…

mentally, when the survival of preemies may be doing more harm than good to both the child and their parents. There are many studies and expert opinions that back the idea of going to great lengths to save the lives of extremely premature babies. It should be noted that when it comes to the controversy over ethics, “A large majority of the parents in all countries (93 to 100 percent) considered the physician’s opinion in decisions regarding resuscitation status” (Baer & Nelson, 2007). Thus, it…