Preview

Summary Of Sharon Old's 'The Only Girl At The Boys Party'

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
309 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary Of Sharon Old's 'The Only Girl At The Boys Party'
Victoria Hernandez
Rodney Rather
English 1302

Reader Response 1: “The Only Girl at the Boys’ Party”.
Sharon Old’s “One girl at the boys’ party” deals with the reality that we live in a society that’s constantly changing and conforming to social norms. The mother of the girl learns early on that the girl is singled out at the party because of her gender and therefore is put into a situation that lacks similarity. The environment consumes the girl and she becomes overwhelmed by the boys’ who “tower and bristle” (2, 3) over her “smooth and sleek” (3) being. It’s evident that the girl’s searching for identity among the boys and she uses math as reassurance. Through the confusion of the party and the outward chaos occurring in the environment
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Best Essays

    Chapter 115: Calendar
    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Chapter 115: Calendar

    Read Devor, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender,” pp. 387-395 in Rereading America. Write a rhetorical analysis of Devor’s essay (Journal #9)…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Alyssa Elver's, Oh, Girls Are No Good At Genocide: An Analysis
    • 1262 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Alyssa Elver's, Oh, Girls Are No Good At Genocide: An Analysis

    As almost as if to shock the reader Elver immediately leads with the words, “I hate being a girl. It totally stinks. Boys are better at everything.”- She introduces her persona, a self deprecating schoolgirl, begins explaining her disdain for her own inferior gender to males, the ones who ‘always win”. She quickly begins to equate the superiority of boys in sport and science to the resolve and action of the perpetrators of Genocide in history.…

    • 1262 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Use of Metaphor, Diction, and Symbol in Sharon Olds' The One Girl at the Boys Party
    • 606 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Use of Metaphor, Diction, and Symbol in Sharon Olds' The One Girl at the Boys Party

    In a poem of reminiscent adolescence, Sharon Olds defines a young girl who has the capacity to judge adolescent emotion with the benefit of time, for she is now a mother herself. This definitive view of adolescent values and thought is mingled with the mystery of symbolic mathematics, which represents a maturity of this thought and a colorful insight into the development of a young girl as she becomes a woman. This poem also accentuates the mystery associated with the minds of the female gender, and the strength of the adolescent, whose mother recounts a vicarious experience that seems to stand a landmark in the social and sexual development of a young female.…

    • 606 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Women without class chap 1, 2 summary
    • 506 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Women without class chap 1, 2 summary

    During her research, Betties hung out with the girls and talked to them about their lives, culture, school, family, friendship, makeup… Betties divided the girls into classes such as: smokers, cholas & cholas, Las chicas,Staters, hicks and preps. The “prep” were mostly white student from middle class families. The “hicks” were mostly white students who from farming families. The “skaters” were mostly white who did not consider themselves in any category. “Cholas& cholas” were from hard working Mexican American family, who participated in gangs. “Las chicas” were from hard working Mexican American families, who did not participated in gang but knew people in gangs. According to Betties, class is not just about socioeconomic but also about attitude, race and performance. In the beginning of the book, Betties showed her argument with Pipher who is the author of the book “Reviving Ophelia” which is very popular at the school. Her argument that Pipher hasn’t addressed class and race; as Pipher didn’t pay attention on feminine. According to Bettie, girls have more complex process of identity formation. According to Bettie, girl sense of inequality but they don’t express it in political term. That was why studying girls helps understand social class and help ending…

    • 506 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    A&P and Everyday Use Comparison
    • 1683 Words
    • 7 Pages

    A&P and Everyday Use Comparison

    Although one’s good deeds may often not be acknowledged, the inevitable lesson of maturity can be taught through such experiences. In “A&P”, Sammy is a teenage clerk who is not acknowledged for accomplishing what he thinks is a good deed. During a hot day, three teenage girls walks into the A&P grocery store, wearing only their bathing suits. The image of the girl’s revealing attire provides an absolute contrast to both the simple interior of the store and also of the other conservative customers. Sammy describes the customers as “sheeps” because they look mindless as they follow each other around the aisles in continual, constant motion. However, these three girls conflict with the imagery of “sheeps” by breaking the norms of what the A&P grocery store, and society in general, has proclaimed as acceptable. These three girls symbolize the reverse of what Sammy has been accustomed to seeing in the store, which are the pedestrian and conformed customers. Infrequency rather than frequency triggers the events that occur in the A&P…

    • 1683 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Emma And Clueless
    • 1921 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Emma And Clueless

    Social structure is seen in both “Emma” and “Clueless” and the concept is maintained throughout both of the texts. Social structure is able to influence Emma’s perception of her surroundings and matchmaking skills. Cher’s amount of knowledge and actions towards the school cliques is also influenced by the concept of social structure. “Emma” and “Clueless” both explore female gender roles in their appropriate context, highlighting the limited power and control of women in patriarchal societies. The theme of roles of women is demonstrated through the numerous women figures that help structure both “Emma” and “clueless” and the impact they have on both their perceptions and their self-awareness. Heckerling’s upholding of the themes that were originally depicted in ‘Emma’ that were transformed into ‘Clueless’ demonstrates the existence and acceptance of these notions in both contexts. Ultimately, ‘Emma’ is transformed into ‘Clueless’ by using examples and techniques in order to display these comparative…

    • 1921 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    To Think Pink or Not
    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages

    To Think Pink or Not

    Peril begins this essay with the introduction making the point that women are expected to behave and act the “Pink Think” way. She then goes into stating that the thought of girly things made her form a hatred and it left her feeling awkward and out of place. She gives three specific examples in the next paragraph, which deal with standard behavior to which all women no matter their age, race, or body type must aspire. Peril then goes into detail about how “Pink Think” is a stereotyped vision of girls on how they are suppose to be held to a specific standard. She then states that certain standards of which women must maintain is seeped into the mindset of girls at a young age. She goes into saying that by trying to maintain being an…

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Boys Party
    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Boys Party

    The Emergence of Femininity in "The One Girl at The Boys Party" by Sharon Olds.…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Passions In Susan Orlean's Obstaclean
    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Passions In Susan Orlean's Obstaclean

    Although she always attempts to write pieces which make good dinner party stories about real people, sometimes these two criteria do not align perfectly, so her descriptions of her subjects become single-faceted in order to be more relatable. Her details can gratify readers’ excitement without portraying her subject fairly. For example, she includes many remarks about the Maui surfer girls’ perfection in their youth (Maui 49). This language mimics the problematic societal belief of young girls as virginal paragons of their gender. Additionally, Orlean relies too heavily on the physical attributes of the surfer girls to relate them to her audience. Her readers are provided details of the surfer girls’ hair, their clothing, and their bodies as evidence that the reader should relate to them (Maui 37, 42, 46). The space devoted the girls’ personality and skill is dwarfed by physical descriptions. Orlean even goes so far as to describe the under-age girls as “sexy” (Maui 42). While this terminology may allow readers to relate to these girls in a way deemed normal by society, it does not help her reader understand them as real human…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Summary Of Lynda Marín's Her Rites Of Passage
    • 1410 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Summary Of Lynda Marín's Her Rites Of Passage

    Throughout the term of her life, a female experiences certain rites of passage that mark her advancement from a good girl, into a young lady and from this, into an adult woman. These rites are not correlated to any specific individual or event, but rather highlight the common themes found in the female experience. In this discourse, I will illustrate how the scenarios in Lynda Marín’s work, “Her Rites of Passage,” are synonymous with the rites of passage all women encounter. In other words, I will highlight the chronological metamorphosis from girl to woman to expose the prevalent formalities such as concepts of fear, shame, and sexualization, that dominate the female existence. It is imperative to address that these traditional acts include…

    • 1410 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Stolen Party
    • 403 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Stolen Party

    In the Stolen Party the author, Liliana Heker, magnificently illustrates the theme of innocence and purity. More specifically innocence and purity of childhood is shown to be the invisible barriers of social classes in the society. Although the characters are similar, they are still separated by one gap and that is social classes. These themes are shown through diction and tone, mood, and symbolism.…

    • 403 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Social Construction Of Gender
    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Social Construction Of Gender

    Everybody in today’s society experiences gender throughout his or her life. However, as a female, I have personally always been affected by the social construction of gender in my day-to-day life, whether I was aware of it or not. Gender is such a prominent aspect of life for everyone that we barely recognize the effect it has on us, especially when it’s constructed within our own families.…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    “Girl” & Barbie Doll
    • 2455 Words
    • 10 Pages

    “Girl” & Barbie Doll

    In contrast, the short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid suggests that women are sentenced to patriarchy as a result of socially constructed gender stereotypes. She criticizes the idealized patriarchal norms and pressures which overshadow the lives of women. Starting early on in their childhood, little girls are explicitly exposed to the pressures and expectations of how they should live. As a result of gender stereotypes, young girls are brainwashed to believe that their role as a woman is a domestic homemaker and that they should always be kempt and maintain a feminine outer appearance. Kincaid ultimately criticizes how women and girls are trapped under a system of patriarchy that can not be erased.…

    • 2455 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Anne Fausto-Sterling's "The Five Sexes" Essay Example
    • 1174 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Anne Fausto-Sterling's "The Five Sexes" Essay Example

    There are several sources that tell a person how to be a man or woman. Science tells us by recognizing the X or Y chromosomes. The media shows us through the physically ideal celebrities that grace the covers of magazines and flaunt their bodies in commercials. Sports, wrestling, cars, and blue for the boys. Dresses, make-up, painted nails, and pink for the girls. All of these sources, as well as others, have evolved into an expectation that has become institutionalized within society. This expectation, is placement and belonging into the binary system of person: the man or the woman. In Anne Fausot-Sterling's acrticles “The Five Sexes” and the “The Five Sexes, Revisited”, the binary system is exposed as being faulted. The author explores the harsh physical and psychological costs that come with the conforming to social standards. In order to understand this phenomena, an explanation of the “ideal” body, and how that is determined is needed. Also, an explanation of any deviation to what is “ideal”, and how those people are treated, are important in understanding society's standards of sex and gender.…

    • 1174 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    An unexpected experience
    • 1194 Words
    • 5 Pages

    An unexpected experience

    This happened on Saturday of the 2006. I was a happy young of only 20 years. I already had a baby of one year old. I worked in two jobs during the whole week and on weekends I liked to have fun and spend time with my baby. That Saturday was celebrating a Carnival where they were good artists; they had machines, and delicious foods and drinks. I wanted to go to the Carnival to have great time with my baby. I had three friends. They were Ruth, Vanessa, and Jessica. They were youthful and they wanted to go with me to the Carnival. However, their moms did not give them permission so we decided to lie. I told to their moms that we would have a pajama party in my apartment. But the truth was that we went to the carnival to have a good time without knowing that we would be passing a terrible and unexpected experience.…

    • 1194 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics