The memoir All But My Life by Gerda Weissmann Klein shares her personal journey throughout holocaust and the hardships she faced during those six long years. The Germans attack on Poland was a “claimed ...defensive action, but Britain and France were not convinced” of their statements (“Germans”). Therefore, fighting continues and Jewish people are held in concentration/ work camps serving Germans until they surrender in 1945. In this time, Gerda is taken away from her family, transported to four different work camps, and forced to do a variety of jobs in inhumane conditions. Whether it was a camp as unbearable as Marzdorf or a “good” camp like Bolkenhain, Gerda never lives a normal teenage life.…
In the article "Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?" by Mark Edmundson narrates the experience of studying at college. Mark Edmundson says, that the first day of college is a major achievement not just for the students attending to their classes also an achievement for parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts who helped to get at college. He says, education in America is a fight against the drugs, violence, slime-based culture and big fight against the institution and education is about finding out what form of work for you is close to being play. Mark was taught that a person goes to college only once and he must study what he wanted.…
The Life You Save May Be Greedy Selfishness is an act that has been around for years and is quite common among people today. Normally, this characteristic is shown when an individual put their goals, priorities, and needs before anyone else. Even those who are in need of extra assistance are often overlooked. In this case, Flannery O'Connor's “the life you save may be your own,” has characters which meet the criteria that portrays selfishness because they abandoned an innocent deaf girl.…
The short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker reflects on the heritage of a family of African Americans. The majority of the African American population has forgotten where they came from. The Webster dictionary defines heritage as “ the traditions, achievements, beliefs, etc., that are part of the history of a group or nation.” Maggie, Dee or Wangero, and their mother, who is also the narrator, are the basic characters for this short story.…
Example: Your generation of humans was supposed to be better!” One of the robots yelled back. “But you’re not! You’re just as murderous as your ancestors!” (Haddix 295)…
The book, This Life I Live, by Rory Feek is about determination to want to become a better person. Rory talks about his childhood explaining how difficult it was for his mother to raise 5 kids on her own without their father around. Times were really difficult for his family, until one day when Rory met the love of his wife, Joey. Rory and Joey both had a strong passion for music, and became very popular within the county charts. When Joey found out she had cancer she never gave up for what she loved. This book inspired me in many ways; always believe you can do better, never give up hope, and stay strong through everything.…
Insuring the Prosperity of Our Nation: In the Home and with our Youth “If we are to reach real peace in this world… we shall have to begin with children” (Mahatma Gandhi). Mahatma Gandhi and Julia Castillo, both argue that in order for real change to happen we must start to instill good values and morals into the younger generation. Castillo, author of “The Obligation”, states that it is our obligation to reach out to those in need to have a better future for all. She believes that everyone has a moral obligation to help someone else, more specifically to give guidance and moral support to those in need.…
Within the essay ‘The Lives of Others’, author Alekskandar Hermon ends the essay with a rhetorical question. Hermon asks “What am I?”, which is a fitting question for an essay with the reoccurring theme of identity and self definition. Hermon continues further, accompanying the question with an answer of his own explanation. Hermon wrote, “I am complicated…I am nothing if not an entanglement of unanswerable questions, a cluster of others. I’d like to say it might be too early to tell” (24).Within this passage, the meaning behind Hermon’s answer could be in relation to the essay’s general theme. By stating that he is complicated, he could be implying that he is not easily definable by society’s structured stereotypes. Often times labels within…
All humans suffer from loss, it can be either big or small. It doesn’t matter your height, weight, gender, ethnicity, age, or religion. Everyone will suffer from loss at some point in their life. In “One Art” Elizabeth Bishop gives examples of how a person can suffer from loss.…
In "The Obligation to Endure," Rachel Carson explains how man is destroying earth because of the advancements in science, along with the continuous use of numerous chemicals. During her essay, she points out to the reader that humans continue to use chemicals to produce our products since they like having the ability to manage the growth of the plants. Carson argues that the use of chemicals is damaging "poisoning" nature along with destroying our environment…
The short story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker is about two sisters and a mother. Despite the family being poor, the mother works hard to provide for the both of her daughters. Dee is the eldest daughter and despises where she came from. Dee later on gains an education, attends college, and obtains a degree all because her mother and the community raised enough money to send her to school in Augusta. In the story she is going through an identity crisis and changes her name to "Wanegro." On the other hand, Maggie, the younger sister, is a shy young girl. The mother offend compares herself and Maggie to Dee, the successful daughter, which illustrates the jealousy she has towards Dee. At such a young age, Maggie is still suffering from a tragic event. Maggie is intimidated by Dee; solely since Dee carries many accomplishments and her appearance. Dee is said to be “self-conscious of her scars and burn marks and jealous of Dee’s much easier life” (Everyday use, 256). Soon after, Dee remembers the quilts made by her grandmother. She attempts to obtain the quilts and her mother decides to give the quilts to Maggie. The quilts are a symbol of customs in their family. In many different cultures there are a variety of customs that follow along with the generations. The short story exposes that the two sisters are attempting to reach the same goal, but in unlike methods. In some ways it also shows that one is trying to be better than the other.…
Everyday Use In the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, Dee Mama and Maggie go throughout their life in the early 1970’s. The problem is that Dee take over and no one stands up against her. Heritage is very important to Mama, for she is very hard working. In the past, their house burned down and therefore Maggie has scars all over her body.…
Alice Walker the author of the short story “Everyday Use.” Alice uses the three types of characterization to develop the character Dee. These methods are what bring the characters to life in the reader’s imagination. Treat others nice, a cliché phrase that people hear daily. Authors use that in writing in a way.…
The story Everyday Use written by Alice Walker led me to feel disappointed to see that people cannot embrace their heritage and ancestors. The message of the story is to show that one’s heritage helps to define who you are as a person and most importantly, one should not be ashamed of their origin. The protagonist of the story Dee was a very selfish girl who did not care for her family and their situation. Her family does not live in the best lifestyle, but they manage with the few things they do have. This was not good enough for Dee however, “Dee wanted nice things” This shows the lack of respect Dee has for her mother. This reminds me of many people I know that are my age that do not respect or treasure their mothers as much as they should.…
To a certain extent, our different cultures informs the way we view others and the world. Most of us compared to the characters in the short story Everyday Use. All of our different cultures make us view things differently. In the short story, we see mom is one of the main characters, we also see she can be independent.…