Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Peter Carstair’s motion picture “September” are two compelling works that explore the poignant theme of coming-of-age. While over thirty years separate the two pieces, both texts capture the raw emotions and difficulties of innocent children growing into mature adults in an ever-changing society. These changes are portrayed in many different way, but are most prominent through the racism in their surroundings, the character’s deep personal development and their loss of innocence.…
I chose “The Catcher in the Rye” authored by Jerome Salinger because I feel it represents coming-of-age thoroughly although with a twist. Holden Caulfield, the main character, experiences the same feelings and maturing and transitioning perception of society that, mostly, any 16-year-old would. It focuses around Holden’s insight of adolescence and the way he apprehends people’s behaviour and judgements. Published and based in the 50s, the moralities have not changed much.…
The audience of this book was intended for young adults who have or are going through a hard time or remember that challenges that are faced when growing up to adulthood during high school. The story relates challenges that are faced through a person’s life. Charlie, the protagonist of the novel, demonstrates this struggle when he explains, “I feel great! I really mean it. I have to remember this for the next time I’m having a terrible week. Have you ever done that? You feel really bad, and then it goes away, and you don’t know why. I try to remind myself when I feel great like this that there will be another terrible week coming someday…” (Chbosky 103). The theme of the book is the coming of age and the hardships that are faced in life. Charlie…
Our second essay is a response to the readings from the Chapter “Is Pop Culture Actually Good For You?” and should include specific references to the text when appropriate. You may also develop the essays with examples from your own lives or other courses you may have taken that covered similar themes. In other words, personal experience is o.k. to use as evidence in your essay, but keep in mind that this essay is primarily a response to a text. You must use at least one of the texts as the “they say” to your “I say.”…
“The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.” - Patrick Rothfuss…
Coming of age novels, Cold Sassy Tree and To Kill a Mockingbird introduce readers to 14 year old Will Tweedy of Cold Sassy, Georgia and 5 year old Jean Louise “Scout” Finch of Maycomb County, Alabama. Both characters were brought up in small, close-knit southern towns, with false views of the world, and ignorance to knowledge and experience. As the stories progess however, the two gain a new type of knowledge and realization of the world. Experiences dealing with love, death, racism and discrimination helped the character’s child-like ideas of the world blossom into a more adult-like perspective. Will and Scout had changed in ways both . My paper will further discuss the traits that Scout Finch and Will Tweedy share.…
Many people can agree that popular culture is invasive, but the opinions differ on how invasive it actually is and whether it is harmful or beneficial. In David Denby’s Buried Alive: Our Children and the Avalanche of Crud, he clearly states his opinion of popular culture and how it has invaded his home and the attitude of his children. The main source of popular culture according to Denby is the media, which has become “three-dimensional, inescapable, omnivorous, and self-referring” and has taken away the idea that parents and teachers are the ones to nurture their children. The media hitherto is not always a good influence on children because of its vulgarity and addictiveness, which can cause children to take on the attitude and life style portrayed on television. Denby is correct in stating that popular culture affects children’s lives and their attitudes, but he is incorrect in saying that pop culture only has negative affects because it can actually benefit the human mind and keep the world connected.…
Entertainment media has had a profound effect on the way American culture has evolved. It has at times brought people together and equally torn them apart. Music, television, and film provide an incomparable outlet for expression. They allow individuals (and groups) to inform, to share what is important to them, to be creative and innovative. With all of the different types of entertainment media in America, society is exposed to so much more than would have been possible without these mediums.…
The book Signs of Life in the U.S.A focus how American pop culture can be a huge part of our education journey. Our culture has so many highs and lows that it affects our everyday life without us knowing, for example the essay from Amy Lin, a student from UCLA argues about Mattel’s most popular toy the, Barbie. She argues that toy’s giant marketing schemes, the lack of culture, and the promotion of materialism is damaging the future generations . When reading this essay it shows American culture of materialism and greed. With this negative bad example it teaches Americans to become greed and self centered which changes our pop culture. However, pop culture can have a positive effect on our lives, for example the essay from Rose Sorooshian,…
Coming of age is an important theme in the novel. It involves the personal, spiritual, moral, or emotional growth and maturation of an individual often based on real world experiences, memorable events, or painful mistakes.…
What is coming of age? Everyone has different answers to that question. In America it isn’t any different. To some it’s about more tangible things. For others it comes suddenly, with traumatic experiences and struggle. Sometimes, it’s about self discovery, figuring life out, and becoming aware of the world around them.…
“If we value play and imagination in the early years because they promote healthy minds and contribute to a strong sense of self, why are they not an essential part of adulthood?”, quote by Ben Michaelis, exhibits a strong feeling of nostalgia at first then makes a person wonder, why not? Is it because of a growing responsibility therefore a loss of time to do what one wishes, a primal need to be”childish”; or is it that even as adults, human beings still are growing, learning and evolving their minds just like in adolescence. These questions are asked in a multitude of coming of age stories, like in The Intruder by Andre Dubus, The Grave by Katherine Anne Porter and The Passage by Dalton Trumbo. All these stories connect in the way that they…
Fourteen children, all fourteen years of age, every fourteen years will receive fourteen separate powers to defend the world against what it cannot defend against itself.…
What is popular (low) culture? "Popular culture is a symbolic expression allegedly aligned with the questionable tastes of the "masses," who enjoy commercial "junk" circulated by the mass media, such as soap operas, rock music, talk radio, comic books, and monster truck pulls" (Campbell, 18). When looking at the high-low hierarchy it often determines the way people view culture as a whole today, saying high culture is good taste and low culture is questionable taste. Many audiences take for granted the world of high culture and fine art causing many young people to not know where a library or museum is located, which promotes people to overlook important information for a paper or research project on a certain topics. Now many tend to look to the Internet for their sources of academic information. In the world of postmodernism, or as scholars define, mixing generations by recycling old media in new ways, the internet and emerging technology enables accessing information much easier, but it takes away from face to face communication. This newly defined technology or postmodernism is cheapening forms of public life such as email, libraries, and public communication. But, when looking at pop culture, countless people encounter it with a short life span, distracting them from what true meanings are, and exploiting aspects and understandings of what is meant to be.…
Our culture is highly influenced by mass media by promoting celebrities and ordinary people who do astonishing things into a stereotype that we base our lives on. Society as a whole is represented in the mass media and impacts our culture and how we relate on a daily basis. As much as we would like to believe that we have control over our own lives, the mass media impacts the way we see gender roles, use symbols, distinguish between high and popular culture, and between real and ideal culture.…