The extremely large and descriptive book, “The way we never were” by Stephanie Coontz. She was born in late August 1944. She is an author, historian, and professor at Evergreen State College teaching history and family studies and was a Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Families from 2001-2004. She has authored and co-edited many books about the history of the family and marriage including “The way we never were”, “The way we really are” and many more award winning books.…
A lot of people have things that they find more difficult than others. It is not uncommon for a person to have their downsides but when it starts affecting their daily routines that’s when it becomes a problem. In the essay “It’s Hard Enough Being Me” by Anna Lisa Raya the author discusses her cultural identity challenges after discovering she was Latina. Raya discusses how she never had to question where she came from or who she was until she attended college in New York City. When she started school in New York City she came into the realization that she no longer was a majority like she was back home in Los Angeles, California. Now that she is studying in New York City she feels like a minority because she cannot figure out where she fits…
Introduction Anne Fadiman is an American journalist and widely recognized for writing about critical and sensitive issues of the society. In the famous work ' In the Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down', the author has focused on critically examining the intense collision between two different cultures, American and Hmong, by referring the case of Lia Lee (Fadiman, 1997), where Lee has been portrayed to be quite young and not physically well to speak for herself.…
The book I read was Matched by Ally Condie. It's about Cassia Reyes and how she tries to make her own choices. Ever since she was little her life has always been planned out for her. All she's ever known is The Society. But, when she goes to look at her Matches data another face pops up.…
Joan Lester Steinau created an essay titled “Now what do I say?” about the need for language to develop to keep track with society and some of the issues that a historical background has caused within some words. One of Steinau’s paragraphs is an except that really makes sense to me as an avid reader and a lover of common events, paragraph 4, page 78. Steinau states the contradiction between the words “warlord” and “lords of the manor” or “knight”. Our first instinct when we hear the term warlord is to imagine a character who rules by absolute force in a small militaristic country that is not developed and full of turmoil.…
In Flannery O’Connors short story, “Good Country People,” the main theme is about a southern family and their faith, identity and education. Another key theme in the story is the concept of reality vs. illusion. The story employs irony and symbolism to portray the main character’s nihilism, immaturity and rebelliousness as well as the other character’s traits and personalities.…
The poem “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks describes the frailty of life from the point of view of a few guys playing pool. They know that the choices they make will affect them in far greater ways in the future, yet they still wish to do what they do because life will end no matter what..…
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 autobiography “Coming of Age in Mississippi,” by Anne Moody is the story of her life as a poor black girl growing into adulthood. Moody chose to start at the beginning - when she was four-years-old, the child of poor sharecroppers working for a white farmer. In telling the story of her life, Moody shows why the civil rights movement was such a necessity, she joined the NAACP to be a rebel, an also showed the depth of the injustices they suffered.…
Anne Moody learned about the importance of race early in her life. Having been born and raised in an impoverished black family from the South, she experienced first-hand the disparity in the lives of Whites and Blacks.…
In Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where are you Going, Where have you Been?” the characters Connie, who soon finds herself traveling somewhere she has never been as well as not knowing where that place is or what it means for her, and Arnold Friend , who Connie believes to be an ordinary 18 year-old boy, demonstrate duality through not only their actions, but their appearances as…
The book I read was called That Was Then, This is now by S.E. Hinton. The book tackles issues of growing up. The main character, Bryon, will have to choose his best friends and how to deal with change. One theme of the book is that stuff will happen, and there is nothing that we can do about it.…
My verbal language has always been a large aspect of my personality, and I believe it is also like this for everyone else. From my very early toddler years, the way I have learned to speak has been in hands of my environment, not mine. My voice is who I am, where I come from, and where I have been.…
At this age all students are thinking about is what major should they study and what career will take them on the path they desire. Professor Mark Edmundson gives his own personal opinion on how you should choose an occupation in his essay: “Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here? A Word to the Incoming Class”. Some students would rather spend the rest of their lives walking into the same building doing the same dull job that can’t stand as long as they are making a lot of money. Others look past their yearly income and continue doing what they do because it’s what they love to do. According to Edmundson “To get it, you'll need to struggle and strive, be strong, and occasionally even piss off some admirable people” (Edmundson 406). His thesis states that you need to stick to your guns and stand up for yourself to get an education. What…
A mother can be both a mentor and a best friend to her little girl. A mom is a person who her daughter can have trust and faith in, someone who one can create a deep mutual bond with. I see my mother as role model. She is inspirational to me because she is an outgoing, funny and enthusiastic person. My Mother is the person who I go to for advice, she is the right person and I know to go to her right away.…