It was December, around Christmas time, in the 1940s. Children were running and playing in the snow. It was during the time at the end of the Civil War. After reading Eudora Welty’s, “A Worn Path,” and understanding the story we must consider an old Negro woman name Phoenix Jackson, a worn rough path in Natchez that she traveled, and the prejudices she had to endure to get medication for her sick grandson.…
“A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty is a short story about an elderly woman by the name of Phoenix Jackson. Eudora Welty has a way of cutting to the chase, but is also clear that she loves her characters. Phoenix is a memorable character because she is full of love. One can admire her perseverance and her willingness to sacrifice for someone she loves. Welty shows us, rather than telling us. As we read along, it is almost like we are walking with Phoenix down the path. In spite of being an elderly woman, Phoenix Jackson does not use loneliness and racism as an excuse.…
Eudora Welty's short story "A Worn Path" takes place on an early December morning which deals with a very elderly and frail black woman, Phoenix; and the hardships inherent in her life. Phoenix Jackson is the main character, she is characterized as a strong poor elderly woman because of her appearance, personality and determination. For example, the narrator states, that Phoenix wore “a dark striped dress reaching down to her shoe tops, and an equally long apron of bleached sugar sacks, with a full pocket: all neat and tidy, but every time she took a step she might have fallen over her shoelaces, which dragged from her unlaced shoes " (475). The dark striped dress and long apron made of sugar sacks symbolizes poverty because of her hardships in life; this is the type of clothing most Negro women slaves wore back in the slavery days. The darkness of her dress represents her state of depression. The stripes on her dress symbolizes the prison bars showing she was held captive as a slave for some time.…
Although Phoenix Jackson is old, tired, dirty, and poor, nothing can stand in her way. In Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” Phoenix jumps off the page as a vibrant protagonist full of surprises as she embarks on a long, arduous journey to procure medicine for her ill grandson. Throughout the story, she displays extraordinary perseverance in the face of difficulty, and this fortitude ultimately allows her to accomplish her goal.…
Metabolism is the complete and necessary chemical activity carried out by living organisms. This process is carried out in two different ways: anabolic and catabolic. The catabolic breaks down large chemical compounds while anabolic synthesizes components to create larger molecules. Respiration provides energy for these reactions, and respiration needs oxygen to occur. Thus, calculating the change in oxygen can determine metabolic rate (University, 59). In this experiment, we will observe and analyze the oxygen consumption of Carassius auratus, also known as goldfish. Oxygen depletion has proven to increase with the presence of caffeine (Womack). Goldfish are ideal species to further solidify this theory due to the fact that they are poikilothermic,…
In the story by Eudora Welty, “The Worn Path” Phoenix Jackson is a complex character who defies a stereotype in a symbolic way. Welty's story describe Phoenix as the o;d lady who had to travel miles a day in order to prove to the other characters that her grandson was not dead. Having to prove that her grandson was not dead Phoenix had three traits of characteristics. She was loving, determined, and persistent. These traits help her to overcome being stereotyped and ultimately her overcoming these stereotype made her symbolic in the journey, her name, and the time frame in which the event happen.…
A Worn Path is a short story written by Eudora Welty. The story is about an elderly, Phoenix Jackson, who goes on a little trip to retrieve her grandsons medicine. A Worn Path was written when towns and cities were segregated. Segregation caused many obstacles for colored people. In this story, The Worn Path is like life back in the 1900’s for colored people, it was filled with struggles for African Americans like Phoenix Jackson.…
Eudora Welty has a past that would still be labeled as successful to this day. She went to the University of Wisconsin and studied business at Columbia University. But her study time has cut short because when her father died her returned back to her hometown in Mississippi. There she became a publicist photographer for the Work Progress Administration (WPA). Because of this job, Welty did a lot of traveling. During her travels Welty started to gain inspiration from her photos and the people she met. She used this inspiration to write stories. One of those stories was “A Worn Path”.…
Take a look at the quest theme outline on the handout from class. Is Phoenix on a quest? Justify your answer. What is Welty’s message (theme) to her readers? What symbols do you find, and how do they connect to the theme?…
Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” is a story that emphasizes the natural symbolism of the surroundings. The main character in the story, Phoenix Jackson, is an old black woman who seeks out to find medicine for her sick nephew. This story contains a motif, which is the continuous walking of Phoenix Jackson throughout her journey. She lives in the pinewoods and faces the challenging experience of walking through the snowy, frozen earth to get to the hospital in the city of Natchez. Phoenix Jackson is a very caring person, and is in love with life. Although she is very old, it seems that she has many years ahead of her. Eudora Welty brings realism into the story describing the realities of being old.…
The short story “A Worn Path” surrounds the character Phoenix Jackson. The setting of the story is in December on a very cold day early in the morning. The content of this story suggests Phoenix Jackson is a very old woman who walks from the old Natchez Trace into Natchez at Christmas time to get medicine for her grandson. She takes the journey every year having at first made the journey to save the life of her grandson; she now follows the worn path each Christmas season to save herself. Considering the fact no one ever see the grandson gave the assumption that he is dead. This explains why toward the end of the story she over-contemplates when the nurse asks her whether her grandson is dead.…
Determination, strength, hope, endurance, perseverance, and love are only a few words to describe the readers feelings while reading this story. The author, Eudora Welty, screams-silently through her gently placed words in story, “A Worn Path”. The inspiring and encouraging phrases spoken to someone, “never give up”, “keep fighting”, “never back down”, are the unspoken feeling through the characters perseverance, determination, and love. The tone in the story is displayed through life of a black, negro-woman, who faces daily obstacles, during a time when black Americans were treated unjustly and unfairly. The traveled path she is traveling parallels the obstacles that African Americans experienced while on their journey for racial equality.…
Two short stories from the text Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing show readers the importance of setting. “A Worn Path” is a short story that was written in 1940 by Eudora Welty, and it takes its place in Mississippi. “Hills Like White Elephants” is a title of short story that was written in 1927 by Ernest Hemingway, and it takes its place in Barcelona, Spain. The setting of each story helps readers to understand a theme or underlying idea.…
Although the federal and state courts systems are different, both have similarities in that they are to base their ruling on the constitution, and to treat each person or state with fairness.…
If you were the CSR officer for a company of your choosing, what would your CSR strategy be and what issues would you focus on? Identify the stakeholders this strategy applies to. Describe the impact of the competitive forces shaping your strategy.…