Names

Should married women change their last names? People have done it for hundreds of years but times are changing. Is it still appropriate for a woman to legally change her name and merge her husband’s identity with her own? According to feminist, Jill Filipovic, it is not. She strongly believes that a name gives someone their identity and changing it will create an entirely different person. Although I agree with certain aspects of Filipovic’s arguments, she includes points that are completely…

“What’s your name, man?” This perfectly reasonable question is asked by Aaron Burr in the musical Hamilton, and introduces the audience to Alexander Hamilton. Asking for a name is a very common way to start a conversation with someone and begin to get to know him or her. This introduction has become so common place that no one thinks about the story behind the name he or she has been told, but names hold so much history in them. The reason a name was chosen or the reason a nickname was created…

What’s my name? Women are usually underestimated and seem inferior to men, especially back in the 1920s. For instance, in the novel Of Mice and Men, Curley's wife is called offensive names and rumors spread about her all the time. Not only that, but her husband, Curley, treats her like she is his property. She is not supposed to leave the house, or talk to the men on the ranch. The men in that ranch do not treat her like a regular human being either. They do not treat her with respect and, the…

My Middle Name is a Four Letter Word Your name. It quite literally is the first gift that any parent can give to a child. Parents often spend countless hours debating baby names in order to find a name that they feel represents the path that they want for their child as they enter the world. Because make no mistake, your name begins to shape your story--even from the moment that a baby draws its first breaths. There’s a lot of power in a name. Names can bring forth positive emotions of power,…

The play “God's Middle Name”, by Jennifer Overton, features a quick-paced series of vignettes that unflinchingly investigate a mother's experiences living with an autistic son, as she comes to understand the condition and shifts from denial to acceptance. It recounts the true story of Jennifer's family over a span of 10 years, moving from confusion to a life-changing diagnosis, through phases of refusal, resentment, sorrow, dealing and, eventually, acceptance. Through rambling scenes and…

My confirmation name is St. Catherine of Siena. I chose St. Catherine of Siena to be my confirmation name because I look up to her for accomplishing many things in life. For instance, she established a monastery for women in 1377 outside of Siena. She also is credited with composing over 400 letters, her Dialogue, which is her definitive work, and her prayers. Not only did I choose St. Catherine of Siena to be my confirmation name for her achievements but I also chose her because I thought she…

definition or identity. In “My Name,” Esperanza says her great grandmother was a “wild horse of a woman” who didn’t want to marry but was forced into it (Cisneros ). She then goes on to comparing her name with the number nine as if the number is unlucky. This proves that she doesn’t want to end up like her great grandmother, but she does know that one day, no matter how strong she is, the same thing will happen to her too. She surely doesn’t like her name and she think it’s unlucky,…

Notable Names within the Scarlet Letter “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.” Solomon expresses in Proverbs that names are to be chosen to represent your true identity, not someone you wish to be. Nathaniel Hawthorne includes Solomon’s idea in his novel, The Scarlet Letter, as he names his characters with symbolic significance. The connotation of light and darkness is established in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter through the…

“What’s in a name?" by: Henry Louis Gates JR. Henry Louis Gates JR. grew up in a time where racial tension was still alive and well, not to say it is now a thing of yesterday but back then it was a bigger issue and not something that was condemned. It is my opinion that Gate’s parents should have used the experience like the one in “What’s in a name?” to educate him about the family’s social status in the community because he would have had more of an understanding and knowledge of how to react…

In the novel Song of Solomon, the names of several of the characters contribute to the underlying message that Toni Morrison is trying the convey. Although some characters’ names seem contradictory to their very nature, other names and their origins eventually shape their respective individual and ultimately end up shaping his or her identity. Macon Dead’s name, in particular, contributes to the novel’s message of the damaging effects of materialistic tendencies and the inability of social…