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.…
“If confusion is the first step to knowledge, I must be a genius”, Larry Leissner. Life is full of confusion, confusion is a natural emotion that everyone feels about something in the confusion packed world we exist on. The coming of age period is when people usually experience uncertainty the most throughout their lifetime. Authors sometimes use this intense time in coming of age stories and portray it in many different ways. In the following coming of age stories the authors display the confusion of advancing to the next stages of life through exercising symbolism in their writing.…
In the short story, “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner, ten year old, Sarty struggles between doing the right thing or betraying his father. In “Doe Season” by David Kaplan, nine year old, Andy struggles in trying to be the boy her father never had or the girl she really is. In both of the short stories, with the help of the character relationships and conflicts, the authors portray the theme of children finding themselves. [Thesis]…
I think Lareau’s main point was how Pierre Bourdieu’s work dealt with the influence of social class position.…
Youth and growing up is all about making mistakes, brushing yourself off, and learning from those mistakes. Children are constantly being taught lessons through trial and error. Learning through mistakes applies to us throughout our life. Authors Christina Rossetti and Maurice Sendak’s written pieces are ridden with symbols of adult themes of trial and error. These children's books tackle themes that are way too complex for a child's understanding. The time period of both of these children’s books may be largely different, but their messages to the reader is the same. Even though the books are on the surface intended for children, they both teach valuable lessons for teens and adults. Both Where The Wild Things Are and "Goblin Market" teach that it is ok to make mistakes as long as you learn from them.…
The term, “Coming of Age” has a variety of connotations ranging from a realization of one’s personal duty in life to a more harrowing observation about the harsh reality one has been hidden from while in the depths of his/her youth. While perhaps there are as many different conclusions reached about growing up as there are pieces of literature revolving around the subject, two works in particular offer transitional tales that depict vastly different narratives. Judith Ortiz Cofer in her poem, Quinceanera, presents a dark and literal use of language to portray a raw and reluctant journey to womanhood, while in “My Back Pages” Bob Dylan more frequently utilizes figurative language to relay a sense that the anger and resentment of his youth was…
Julie Van is a student attending the University of Washington in Seattle. She was born on October 9th, 1994 in her hometown of Tacoma, Washington where she spent her childhood doing what most children do like going to school or spending time with her family and friends. Now, she lives a typical college life. On the weekdays, Julie wakes up and attends classes and finishes her days off doing copious amounts of homework or relaxing with friends. But on the weekends, she enjoys to “hangout at nearby coffee shops or going on adventures with friends” but always puts her studies before anything else. Overall, she is a student who is very focused on her studies, but she also has had her fair share of struggles. Whether it be dealing with the loss…
A short story ‘Eleven’ by Sandra Cisneros dwells upon the memories of an eleven-year-old girl that spends her birthday at school and gets into a discomforting situation with her teacher because of her lack of confidence. In spite of the multiple colloquial phrases and childish expressions, this is a very philosophical piece of writing. It touches upon such global and adult issues as experience, freedom, aging, life and death, knowledge and restrictions. The symbolism is very sophisticated here – under the veiled mask of a simple classroom occasion the writer sets multiple questions. Do people gather enough experience with age? What secret knowledge and power is revealed after each birthday? Can a simple life situation drive one at an older age more efficiently than real calendar time does? The complexity of an eleven-year-old girl (who is almost a teenager, by the way) is derived from the first-person style of narration. The author tries to hide her real wisdom and age through the expressions like “little animal noises” but it still seems not convincing because so many serious questions are being asked in each paragraph of the story. She is very capable in understanding her own emotions and thoughts – an ability that is not very typical for such a young age is eleven. Her descriptions of the surrounding world are very clear and comprehensive; the usage of metaphors is quite mature in spite of the phrasing.…
“We've let the blade of our innocence dull over time, and it's only in innocence that you find any kind of magic, any kind of courage.”(Sean Penn) The character Jem in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird is seen dulling his blade of innocence throughout the events in his life. He started out playing games with his sibling/friends then he started to notice the world more and everything that it seemed to be. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Jem is able to come of age through his experiences with many key symbolic events such as his interactions with Boo Radley, Tim Johnson, and Mrs. Dubose.…
Neil Postman (1982) argues that childhood is gradually disappearing. His statement is connected to two ideas that state about technology and social blurring. His first idea about technology is that the growth of television is taking over, so there is unlimited access to the adult world which involves, sex, drugs, violence and suffering. His other idea is that the connection between adults and children is becoming too close together. He states that children are becoming “little adults”, their games disappearing, speaking, behaving and dressing like they are adults. The traditional features that mark adulthood are just seen as the norm now, for example getting a job, leaving home etc. David brooks criticises Postman’s argument by saying that parents are taking more control and are more concerned about the safety and wellbeing of their children. He argues that is isn’t childhood that is disappearing, it is children themselves.…
How could a child not be excited by their first days of school? Throughout the story; To Kill A Mockingbird there are numerous moments that within the story change characters, nearly all of these events are centered around sensitive subjects such as rape, abuse, murder, death and racism. Although our main protagonist, Scout Finch; has more of these life changing events that any other character throughout the story, although because she is a child and a teenager throughout the story, these life changing moments become ‘coming of age events’. In chapters two and three, on Scout’s first day of school she has difficulty with both her teacher—Miss Caroline—and a student—Walter Cunningham—, this event is an external conflict, and internal conflict,…
My coming of age of age incident is the most beautiful experience I have ever lived in my life The amazing most precious coming of age incident I had was the precious gift of being a mother I gave birth to a precious, the most beautiful baby on earth my baby girl Evelyn. No matter how much you think ahead, labor and delivery rarely go according to how you plan it to be. Labor wasnt as bad as it many women describe it to be. I heard so many horror stories about giving birth that I got scared when I was at the hospital. I imagined feeling like I would die but contractions were very manageable for me. I had a higher pain tolerance level than I thought. I feel so proud of my self because I didnt even get an epidural I gave birth to my daughter all natural. Of the whole pregnancy and birth of my daughter Evelyn, I enjoyed labor and delivery the most. After my daughter was born I felt a big emotion and sadness that I started crying. All of a sudden I felt so old (lol). I just felt that feeling like if a 100 lbs fell on top of me and I felt different. Right that moment I felt older because Im a mother now. Even though there a lot of single moms or mom out there young like me most of them still go out and leave their babies at home with their parents because they feel like their life is to hard with a baby. Well not me I love my daughter Im a full time mom. Yea my mom takes care of my baby when Im at school but once Im home I dont even go out and if I do I take her with me everywhere I go. Evelyn is my life I feel a lot more mature Im an adult now. My grandma got married at 14 I know how to cook clean do everything so its like a tradition to be young moms. Every time I see my grandma she tells me I was already ready to take that step in my life that shes really proud of the women I am. Life as a mom is not easy but not impossible. When they wheeled my daughter in next to my bed in the recovery room. I spoke to her and she tried to arch…
Evaluate the social constructs that have brought about similarities and differences between you and your interviewees, drawing conclusions about the influence of power and authority, gender and technology, continuity and change.…
I was exactly like her, my great aunt Burrell. At least that’s what my mom told me. I remember going over to her apartment and seeing yarn strewn throughout. I love to craft just like her. I would have loved to be just a little bit older, or for her to be a little bit younger, to learn from her. Her apartment always the smell of fresh roses with the slightest hint of smoke from the previous owner. Little did aunt Burrell know her apartment would be her final resting place. My great aunt's death tore me apart. I was never that close with her, I didn’t visit every week. The reason I had my coming of age moment was not only because she died, but because of my mom.…
Nostalgia comes from the longing of youth and of the desire or longing of home. This is elaborately illustrated in Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer. This book captures the journey of a man named Christopher McCandless who shuns himself from society to find his childhood passion and relive it. He leaves his family behind, changes his name, and becomes a person who only lives for his passion --- and himself. Krakauer shows the understanding that passion and longing of youth ends when someone reaches adulthood, forced to face reality. However, McCandless brings his passion back into his life as he longs for adventure: to lose himself within it. Adults who connect themselves to their childhood passions back to their live, have the desire to live out their old passions, and want to relived the feelings and thoughts of their youth tend to understand McCandless thought process better than those who won’t --- i.e children. These adults understand why he left, or at the very least may be able to sympathize.…