Coming of Age Speech
When you were a child, have you ever burnt yourself by touching fire? If so, your parents may have warned you, but you hurt yourself anyway out of curiosity. After that experience, would you ever repeat yourself and touch it again? Of course not! Due to this pain you experienced, you’ll unlikely do it again. Similarly, ‘we mature and learn through our experiences and challenges through coming of age.’
The transition to adulthood isn’t simply just door that you walk through when you reach a stage of adulthood. It’s like a stairway that you climb, step-by-step, throughout adolescence. To better understand this concept, the novel ‘Anne of Green Gable’ by Montgomery is a clear depiction of coming of age. The text is written in form of third-person omniscient, where the point of view shifts to reveal the different perspectives and experiences of Anne and Marilla by representing a child and an adult view. This technique also allows the audience to observe the process Anne’s identity being forged. The persona ‘Anne Shirley’s experiences various challenges of coming of age but the ones of importance are: 1. Misunderstanding 2. Use of Hurtful words 3. Death of loved ones
The idea of ‘misunderstanding’ is presented through the idiom “For pity’s sake hold your tongue.” which Marilla said to Anne simply telling her to be quiet allowing the audience to identify the talkativeness of Anne identifying the misunderstanding of her actions. This is further reinforced by the quote Anne said to Matthew: “It’s so easy to be wicked without knowing it”, which juxtaposes with Anne’s experiences of maturity with Marilla. Misunderstandings are also incidents in which individuals are able to learn about the consequences of their actions. Such a scenario is when Anne is accused of stealing Marilla’s brooch. However, inexperienced Anne’s reaction was to ‘lie’ that she has stolen it. Marilla therefore is able to teach Anne a lesson about misunderstanding and the issue of accepting
The transition to adulthood isn’t simply just door that you walk through when you reach a stage of adulthood. It’s like a stairway that you climb, step-by-step, throughout adolescence. To better understand this concept, the novel ‘Anne of Green Gable’ by Montgomery is a clear depiction of coming of age. The text is written in form of third-person omniscient, where the point of view shifts to reveal the different perspectives and experiences of Anne and Marilla by representing a child and an adult view. This technique also allows the audience to observe the process Anne’s identity being forged. The persona ‘Anne Shirley’s experiences various challenges of coming of age but the ones of importance are: 1. Misunderstanding 2. Use of Hurtful words 3. Death of loved ones
The idea of ‘misunderstanding’ is presented through the idiom “For pity’s sake hold your tongue.” which Marilla said to Anne simply telling her to be quiet allowing the audience to identify the talkativeness of Anne identifying the misunderstanding of her actions. This is further reinforced by the quote Anne said to Matthew: “It’s so easy to be wicked without knowing it”, which juxtaposes with Anne’s experiences of maturity with Marilla. Misunderstandings are also incidents in which individuals are able to learn about the consequences of their actions. Such a scenario is when Anne is accused of stealing Marilla’s brooch. However, inexperienced Anne’s reaction was to ‘lie’ that she has stolen it. Marilla therefore is able to teach Anne a lesson about misunderstanding and the issue of accepting