The book titled "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green is a story about a washed up child prodigy named Colin Singleton who is distraught by the 19 breakups of his girlfriends in his life strangely all named Katherines. He then travels with his Muslim friend away from the bustling city and into the rural areas of Tennessee to escape the pain from his recent breakup as well recover from it until he felt better enough to go back to the way it supposed to be. As he recovered, he worked on a theorem that mathematically explained why he broke up with each of his 19 girlfriends. He also met a girl named Lindsey Lee Wells who is as well intelligent and kind-hearted to her friends. But in the middle of his stay at Gutshot, he noticed that he's…
Porter uses dialogue first and foremost to show the vast difference between what what we want to say and what we really end up saying. A great example of this would be Granny’s dislike towards the doctor. Granny makes comments here and there such as, “Where were you forty years ago when I pulled through milk-leg and double pneumonia? You weren’t even born.” (7) but she can not manage to come up with the exact words to say to convey her anger properly. The structure of her insults simply sound snappy and almost like whining instead of angry or purposeful. Granny’s lack of ability to relay the true meaning of her emotions shows the reader that she is slowly losing her grip on reality. The way Porter uses dialogue also serves as a theme for the…
It’s said that when feeling alone, one should turn to a group of people for support. However, the sad reality is that often, when surrounded by people we don’t share the same views with, we feel even more secluded. This theme is present in both “The Cherry Orchard” by Antonin Chekov and “St. Lucy’s School for Girls Raised by Wolves” by Karen Russell. In the works, main characters Madame Ranevsky and wolf-girl Mirabella are forced to adapt to a change they don’t want to undergo. Madame Ranevsky, who lived her life on a cherry orchard, is being asked to sell her home and to move on to a new life, one more urban and less extravagant. Mirabella, the youngest of the wolf girls, is sent to a reformatory girl’s…
" The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" by Katherine Ann Porter explores themes such as denial, regret, and most of all grief, centered around an eighty year old woman, Granny Weatherall. Her very name Weatherall is a symbol of what she has endured through life. She had to weather all she persisted and carried on. For her first love, George left her at the altar. Her husband, John died young in their marriage. And even God didn't show up to the time of her death. Consistently Granny has been jilted or abandoned by whom she loves and it caused her much grief.…
In Laura’s transformation, there are several mysteries unexplained such as how she recovers what cannot be recovered; her hair color, youth, innocence, and possibly her virginity. Notwithstanding their unresolvedness, those enigmas belong and contribute to the bewitching and fantasy aura that surrounds the sisters’…
In Katherine Anne Porter’s “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” an old woman’s light is slowly fading out and memories from her past are phasing in and out of her head as she lives out her final moments. The times she was “jilted” are poring out of her memories, releasing themselves and allowing her the peaceful death she so desires. She has good memories: memories of her children, memories of her husband, and memories of her silly father: “Her father had lived to be one hundred and two years old and had drunk a noggin of strong hot toddy on his last birthday. He told the reporters it was his daily habit, and he owed his long life to that” (Porter). But it is the bad memories she is letting go of, the memories of her jilting. Her children surround her as she dies, floating about like balloons above her, but she does not want to go yet because she has so much she still wants to do. In the medial of “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” in paragraphs twenty-seven through twenty-nine, it constitutes the struggle of the memory of her getting jilted by the man she loved.…
In the book, ‘The story of Tom Brennan’, the author J.C.Burke, creates a successful novel portraying the life of a teenager and the daily routines that they are faced with throughout their world. In this book the teenager, Tom Brennan, is faced with many obstacles including the party and playing football. While there are many negative incidents that Tom faces, he is not alone. Some positive ideas include support and help of family, always being behind his back, a renewed sense of self and creating new relationships, especially a girlfriend. Techniques used to express these ideas are mostly dialogue, imagery, and flashbacks. Through these ideas, the readers experience the successfulness that J.C.Burke has written.…
The most common advice given to novice writers is to ‘write what you know’. Although cliche, and sometimes unappealing to authors who want to expand and diversify their writing, this tip holds its credibility. When an author draws from personal experience, it not only makes her writing more genuine and convincing, but also allows gives her an outlet to express her unique struggles, desires, and beliefs. Willa Cather’s My Antonia is a poignant romantic novel about westward expansion, following the story of recently orphaned Jim Burden and his childhood in Nebraska. The parallels between the most impactful events in Jim’s life and that of Cather’s become glaringly obvious when the two are compared. Willa Cather shapes Jim’s story in My Antonia…
Pfeffer allows the reader to get a sense of the devastation in the midst of Evan’s family, by writing in the perspective of the protagonist, Miranda, a high school sophomore. She enables us to envision how life would be like in an abrupt natural disaster. In addition, the use of the story told in brief journal entries contributes to making it a heart-pounding, gripping novel, by infusing the reader with honest emotions that gradually builds up the intensity and tension. Each page of the novel is filled with authenticity and immediacy, with wearying and petrifying events. Families vanish, and the whole village turns dark and silent. The Evan’s family must realize that whatever obstacles and circumstances they face and despite the limited time they have left, determination, love, and hope for each other is all that’s left to cling on. Life As We Knew It is a thrilling, harrowing, action packed novel, highlighting Miranda’s struggle and determination to live, despite the drastic changes in her life - the loss of friends, severe epidemics, and famine.…
Isabelle Ziv English Language Arts 10-1 Mr. Eddie April 8th, 2024 Reeling in Independence Both longing and love can be confused by the spiraling currents of adolescence, where a young boy’s desires run as deep as the river. “The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant” written by W.D. Wetherell, is a captivating story that asserts how being emotionally fulfilled by others should not be your only reason for satisfaction. Whether it be Sheila’s Mants isolation, the protagonist’s fascination with her, or even the lessons learned within the protagonist, in order to be emotionally fulfilled, you must only depend on your own worth, rather than chasing acceptance of others. The human need for other people is not necessary to acquire your own sense of being.…
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So first up is “The Bouquet”; I sympathized mainly for the young girl named Sophie. Society’s faults stunted her growth as an individual, and kept her from bonding with those she desired relations. The whole culture surrounding her took away most of the attributes that make oneself human- such as love, happiness, and human connection.…
Center stage in Kaye Gibbons’ inspiring bildungsroman, Ellen Foster, is the spunky heroine Ellen Foster. At the start of the novel, Ellen is a fiery nine-year old girl. Her whole life, especially the three years depicted in Ellen Foster, Ellen is exposed to death, neglect, hunger and emotional and physical abuse. Despite the atrocities surrounding her, Ellen asks for nothing more than to find a “new mama” to love her. She avoids facing the harsh reality of strangers and her own family’s cruelty towards her by using different forms of escapism. Thrice Ellen is exposed to death (Gibbons 27). Each time, Ellen has a conversation with a magician to cope with the trauma (Gibbons 22-145). Many times Ellen’s actions and words cause it to be difficult to tell that she is still a child. However, in order to distract herself, Ellen will play meaningful games (Gibbons 26). These games become a fulcrum for Ellen’s inner child to express itself. Frequently, Ellen will lapse into a daydream (Gibbons 67). Usually, these daydreams are meant to protect herself from the harsh reality around her. Ellen Foster’s unique use of escapism resounds as the theme of Kaye Gibbon’s Ellen Foster.…
a. Katharine’s ideal self is a woman who is self-sufficient, an entrepreneur, and a mother as well as wife. Prior to attending her support group, Katharine’s life lacked any positive self-regard. She had been living as a ‘kept’ woman at her husband’s insistence for many years and no longer felt she was capable of reanimating her independence. The seriousness of her neurosis is displayed clearly when she skips her 10th reunion due to fear of judgment of and pity for her lack of accomplishments. There is much incongruity weighing Katharine down.…
Using first-person point of view is one of the typical traits in Jewett’s short stories. “The White Rose Road” and “Going to Shrewsbury” are just two examples of her first-person accounts. One of her stories, “Looking Back on Girlhood,” is written in first-person, but is also told from Jewett’s point of view instead of a character’s. In all of her writing, the use of first-person offers a unique view for the reader.…