Daly Walker has written a story about a doctor who is haunted by the shame and guilt he carries with him from the atrocious acts he committed while serving in the army; acts so horrible that he cannot speak of them. The story depends on his use of three literary elements: setting, plot and symbolism.…
Nancy E. Turner, in her American novel inspired by her own family’s experiences These is my Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine (1998), displays the struggles of life on the frontier from a female’s point of view. Sarah Prine, Turner’s grandmother, is the main character who is traveling across Arizona with her family to find a place to settle. Along the way, Sarah runs into multiple hardships, yet her greatest one is meeting Captain Jack Elliot. From the very beginning, Sarah can tell that Jack is different from all the other men. Because Jack bargains with Sarah and her books, comforts her during her frazzled moments, and shows obvious dislike of Jimmy Reed during his and Sarah’s marriage, Turner illustrates the moral ambiguity of Jack’s character.…
On a spring day in West Florida, Janie spent the afternoon lying under a pear tree. The delicate serenity of nature filled her with sheer contentment and delight. In a dream like state, “through the pollinated air she saw a glorious being coming up the road” that in “her former blindness she had known as shiftless Johnny Taylor” (11). Janie’s romantic visions are reflected by springtime. At sixteen years old, Janie, herself, was blooming into a woman. In a trance, Johnny Taylor became the target of her infatuation. Nature’s power of suggestion was able to “[beglamore] his rags and her eyes” (12). Just as Johnny Taylor kisses her, Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, wakes from her nap and catches the two under the pear tree. In desperation, Nanny has Janie married off to a wealthy farmer, Logan Killicks, and in an instant Janie’s carefree fantasies come to an end.…
John Steinbeck's short story "The Chrysanthemums" is centered on the protagonist named Elisa Allen. The vivid portrayal of her character in different parts of the story makes the reader wonder who she really is. Steinbeck started by portraying her as a strong and knowledgeable gardener, with a sense of masculinity, following which she is portrayed as someone who yearns for sexual attention in her sensual encounter with the tinker, and concluded with her being described as a beautiful, feminine lady, and then back to her masculine self all within a span of a few hours. The evolution in the expressions, emotions, and the portrayal of Elisa Allen is an important element of Steinbeck’s “The Chyrsanthemums.”…
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.…
Throughout this excerpt from “My Garden” by Mary Abigail Dodge, the author uses extensive amounts of imagery to envelope the reader in her writing in order to convey her message. Through the use of imagery Dodge enables the audience to understand that women can be accomplished writers just like men…
Just like a rose, protagonist Janie blossomed into a mature woman of her time who faced many issues such as the prevailing question “what is love?”. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston develops itself through the symbolic renditions that based itself around a secular description of Janie Crawford. The limitless horizon, the blossoming pear tree and the hard working mule all solely represented an idea that built upon the existence of the characters.…
The narrator, Amanda Coyne, begins her essay from the mother’s perspective. She describes herself visiting her sister in Federal Prison Camp with her nephew. The story is focused on the relationship of separated children and their imprisoned mothers. The narrator describes the mother’s unusual response to their children in regards to the smell of the flowers bouquet. The way that mothers were referring to the smell so significant gives a visualization of a deep longing and separation in their hearts. The common use of anecdotes and juxtaposition in this writing stands out as a useful tool to describe the characters. The use of a brief narrative to describe kids shows a bit of resentment children.…
Elizabeth Strout’s novel, Olive Kitteridge, is filled with stories about the lives of regular people in Crosby, Maine. Throughout the stories, different characters are faced with adversity they are forced to deal with. While some handle their problems well and are able to cope with their hardships, others, even those with good intensions, do not find a happy ending. The story “Tulips” encapsulates the a recurring theme of the book; life is uncertain and takes us down roads upon which we had never imagined ourselves having to travel, and while these obstacles may very in their severity, it is how one is able to cope with their individual adversity that will ultimately determine their happiness.…
Robin Jenkins effectively conveys loss of innocence and ant war through sophisticated symbolism in the short story “Flowers”. It tells the story of a young girl, Margaret, who was evacuated from the city of Glasgow to the highlands of Scotland in an attempt to avoid the inhumanity of war, but it is in the highlands where she truly witnessed the brutality of war.…
In the story of “Sowing Change” a garden impacts a neighborhood in a constructive way. The residents of North Lawndale have a great feeling of pride on their beautiful botanical garden. For example, the executive director Leonard expressed that “when you see how it [empty lot] was being used before and how it is being used now, that’s an awesome feeling. It belongs to the community”. The making of the garden has reduced the crime rate in the local area. For instance, the Safer Foundation, which helps men from prison to make the transition to the outside world, has helped ex cons become more passive and learn how to make proper decision and learn how to function in a society. The garden was productive to the neighborhood in the way that it had health benefits. For example, members of the community would have fresh air and exercise in the form of walking while working on the garden. Also, the garden was culturally important because it promotes African heritage, due to the large African American community in the neighborhood. For example, the garden was built in the shape of the African continent and it has a shelter that represents the tribal huts in Africa. The garden is valuable to the…
At some point or another, we all lose our innocence. In the story “The Flowers” by Alice Walker, there is an excellent example of this. In the last line of this story, Alice walker states “and the summer was over.” This quote means that the little girl in the story has lost her innocence, or “the summer.”…
Bringing in the story of her grandparents arriving to the area she ties in the reader by giving fully set real world examples. She began, “Such is the situation all of my great-grandparents and grandparents encountered when they arrived between the years of 1885 and 1911.” By utilizing this not only does she give a final point to the importance of small towns but she shows herself as credible to the position she is standing in by giving a first hand situation. Continuing to use anecdotes and quotes she explains Richard Manning’s observation of the grassland in which immigrants came to establish as a small community. Debra quoted Manning, “The place was a mess, and it became a young nation’s job to fix it with geometry, democracy, seeds, steam, steel, and water.” She is using this example in a way of saying “there is not much to us but together we create the most unique and purposeful. way of life. Stories and famous quotes give more of a higher view on the passage due to utilizing known factors to the situation, along with she used her families stories of small towns to show importance of the idea to herself.…
Cited: Walker, Alice. In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens. New York: A Harvest Book Harcourt,…
Nurturing plants can teach us how to care for other living things. In general people garden because it helps to relax, to gain social skills, and make some friends. In Paul Fleischman’s novel Seedfolks, two main characters who are dynamic are Sae Young and Maricela. Fleischman’s vacant lot garden changes the lives of SaeYoung and Maricela, because the garden helps them [Sae Young and Maricela] gain social skills and helps them [SaeYoung and Maricela] express their voices.…