Michael Clarke Duncan

The Flower Girl’s Great Transformation “To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” In George Bernard Shaw’s fictional play, Pygmalion, Liza Doolittle also known as The Flower Girl, is the protagonist and is under an experiment for six months. Liza lives with two old gentlemen, Professor Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering. She later discovers her new identity, a better lifestyle where there is education, etiquettes, social class, and fashion…

“I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are really good at heart,” -Anne Frank. That’s tough to swallow, especially considering Anne was a Jew during the Holocaust. Anne and her family didn’t go to a camp like most Jews. They went into hiding and had to live with another family for two years. Two families and one stranger in an attic above a business; things will definitely not always go well. There will obviously be differences between some of them. Especially Anne Frank, and her…

Toni Cade Bambara’s short story “The Lesson,” illustrates the unequal distribution of wealth in America which causes the protagonist, Sylvia, to lose her innocence and reevaluate the social class spectrum she lives in. Miss Moore, who is the only person with a college degree in the area, wants to teach Sylvia and the other children a life-changing lesson in an outing to a toy store. From the group of children, Sylvia shows she is a naïve and stubborn child who does not value anyone’s opinion.…

When Jane Eyre was first published by Charlotte Brontë in Victorian England, it was viewed as revolutionary. In the modern era, despite rapid changes in the role of women in both the home and workplace, the novel is still regarded as one of the greatest works of feminist literature worldwide. Brontë expertly presents power struggles between her narrator, Jane, and men, alongside conflicts with society as a whole in order to produce an overall theme of female empowerment. Within this passage…

Adeline has been whipped,thoroughly beaten, and has had a torturous life she never was welcomed by the family and had a depressing life. The memoir Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah is a story about a girl with a depressing life. Adeline was always depressed about being last on everything. Victor once said “It’s so unfair why doesn’t she ever get to go anywhere with us. Niang screamed That’s just the way it is! “( Yen Mah 156)She doesn’t get to go even with her own family. They treat her as…

In Charlotte Brönte’s Jane Eyre, morality is tied to Jane’s understanding of religion and spirituality. Morality is presented to Jane through Christianity and Jane’s spirituality. Throughout the novel, characters such as Brocklehurst and St John present Jane with their interpretations of Christian moral guidelines: Brocklehurst presents the rejection of physical nourishment, while St John presents ideals such as the rejection of emotional fulfillment in order to carry out God’s will on Earth.…

Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds” is a short story that was written in 1989, that outlines the difficulties with a mother and daughter relationship. A young girl name Jing-Mei Woo who is the main character in the story was a vulnerable nine-year-old girl living in a home with her mother and father. Jing-Mei deals with the high potentials of her mother, to become a genius. After losing everything in China, her mother moved to America for a better living. Jing-Mei shares her mother’s thoughts about America on…

The Modern Myth of Innocence The poem “The Myth of Innocence” by Louise Glück, is one that brilliantly transcends the test of time and holds a brilliant message that resonates with people in modern times. The main theme of this poem is maturing, and in Persephone’s case she is immediately thrown into the life of a woman rather than a girl. This poem was written as a metaphor for the process of growing up, and almost seems to expertly predict the future by metaphorically describing the behavior…

Humans have a trend in which we only sacrifice at the most critical or important point, which helps reveal the what we value. This is showcased in the novel, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, when the author uses the protagonist, Jane Eyre, to showcase a theme of sacrifice and sometimes lack thereof regarding one’s moral principles in a Victorian society. Throughout the novel, Jane deliberately sacrifices her safety, stability, and emotional gratification, which highlights her character’s values…

In a discussion of Pride and Prejudice, one issue that has been discussed is the development of Darcy and Elizabeth throughout the whole story. On one hand, from the beginning, Elizabeth has been the smart mind sister but does she change and develop into a well-rounded individual? Over the span of the novel, we see her self-development, a developing of her character as she comes to more prominent information and comprehension of herself and other individuals. On the other hand, in the beginning,…