Karen Russell Essay

The Industrial Revolution was a time of growth and advancement in the 1800’s. During this time the standard of living began to increase for the majority of the population, but in order to increase the majority’s standard of living some had to sacrifice this benefit by working in the factories. While everyone else was beginning to see the profit from the Industrial Revolution, those making the change by working in the factories saw lower standards of living due to the cheap labor they provided. In Reeling for the Empire, Karen Russell uses symbolism to detail the enslaving conditions of the Japanese Industrial Revolution. The color of the silk, the character Dai, the blind woman, and the silk machine detail the feelings of the workers and never…

In "Seven Monster Theses", Jeffery Cohen develops an idea that “monsters” are essential to society. In fact, they construct what is “normal”, “rational”, and “civilized”. Specifically, “monsters” are foundational to how we view ourselves. “Monsters” contain all the traits deemed unacceptable and odd. It can be concluded that every outlier is a “monster”. In “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves”, Karen Russell tells the story of a pack of wolf girls who are transitioning into young ladies.…

It was not a stranger they were looking for, but their very own sister. Karen Russell wrote a short story called “Haunting Olivia”, and it is about the death of a young girl and her grieving brothers. Wallow and Timothy go to Gannon’s Boat Graveyard whenever they get the opportunity because they are looking for their sister, Olivia. Gannon’s Boat Graveyard is a place where people come to leave their abandoned boats. Each time they go they wear diabolical goggles. The boys believe that since they…

In the short story “Proving Up” by Karen Russell, the reader is introduced to Miles and his family, the Zegner family. The Zegner family is a family of farmers who is extremely devoted to “proving up”. Miles is confused about his family’s obsession with wanting to “prove up”. The story presents the idea that greed leads to death and shows how Miles eventually gets influenced and becomes greedy throughout his journey to “prove up” for his family. In the end, after the confusion of his family's…

story written by Karen Russell follows three girls as they learn please and adapt to their new way of living, all of them heading in separate directions. In the beginning of claudettes journey everything is new and different however She shortly learns that hard work is crucial to adaptation and that from that point on the stakes would be high. As her progress moves forward, she began to realize that she needed to go her separate way to succeeded and when she was finished at St Lucy’s she had…

Diverse Society Every culture contains different key aspects which makes it absolutely difficult to compare one to another. With diversity there is an infinite amount of possibilities in the world. In “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves,” Karen Russell explains what would happen if a single culture believed their ways were superior to all other cultures. She uses the vastly different cultures of humans and wolves to describe the controversial predicament. Claudette, the main character…

I remember the day my eight-year old sister came to me asking me how much a girl her age should weigh. At the time, I was only nine and thought her question was odd, but went along with my day. The next few months my sister began dieting and exercising and continued to reach and reset her weight goal. It quickly spiraled out of control and within weeks was diagnosed with anorexia and hospitalized. Looking back, it still astonishes me that someone that young could feel the need to lose weight…

Producer, Mike Nichols provides us with a powerful look into the life of an American nuclear plant worker in the 1983 movie “Silkwood.” Starring Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell and Cher, “Silkwood” depicts the true story of Karen Silkwood, a chemical technician and union activist at Kerr-McGee nuclear facility in Crescent, Oklahoma. Knowing that the plant is three months behind in meeting a contract’s deadline, Silkwood suspects that their work is being compr0mised in order to meet the deadline.…

“Never settle for less than perfect just remember who you are, you are a Rangerette.” -Gussie Nell Davis. Ever since I was a Sophomore in High School I was introduced by the organization of Rangerette’s. My director constantly telling me “It’s an experience like no other.” or “The pride of wearing the red, white, and blue is such an honor.” I never realized how much of an honor it was until I stepped my foot onto that field for the first time in the legendary uniform on September 19, 2015.…

Karen Danielson was born on September 16, 1885 to Berndt Wackels Danielson and Clotilde née van Ronzelen in Blankenese, Germany. At the age of nine, Karen developed a crush on one of her older brothers who soon pushed her away leading her to begin suffering from depression effecting her for the rest of her life. After her mother left her father, Karen entered medical school at University of Freiburg, she transferred to one other school before graduating from University of Berlin in 1913. She…