Not only that, but also Miss Hana used to tell us a lot of fables
Not only that, but also Miss Hana used to tell us a lot of fables
The mother forces tradition on her entire family, but especially on her only son. She uses guilt to manipulate her son, attempting to keep him in the "chain of tradition" (MacLeod 452). She sees her son as next in line to take up the torch of spending his life by the sea, not necessarily by choice, but because it is who he is meant to be. It is in his blood and in his soul. He is expected to choose this life because it’s tradition. The protagonist’s mother is also mildly disgusted with his father because even though he works as a fisherman that is not where he places value; it is not where he wants to be. As the story unfolds, and we watch the father teach his children beyond the ocean, the mother becomes angry. She sees that it is nigh impossible for her and her traditions to compete with such knowledge and freedom in words. For that reason, throughout the narrator’s life, the mother is seen refusing to try to understand the father’s, and children’s, need and want for education. She even says: "God will see to those who waste their lives reading useless books when they should be about their work" (MacLeod 543). She does not see education as anything more than a waste of time, while seeing nothing but value in the hard work of a fisherman’s…
Second, the relationships the authors had with their teachers were different. Rodriguez’s relationship with his teachers was one that really helped him succeed. Rodriguez’s teachers were dedicated to him and wanted to give him all the information he asked. Richard took advantage of his teacher’s knowledge by always asking questions. He…
Sherman Alexie was a young Indian child that was driven to know how to read and right. He was determined to turn other opinions, that didn't matter to him, down and set out to do what he had the desire to do. Alexie didn't let the stereotype that ¨he was an Indian¨ slow him down either. Indians were expected to be at a lower education level, but Alexie wasn't willing to obtain that thought. Frustrated with the lack of change in his Indian community, Sherman Alexie sets out to defy stereotypes, and save the lives of those without equal chance through reading and writing.…
Sandra Cisneros’s essay, “Only Daughter” is an autobiography about being raised in a family of six brothers, and how she is desperate for her dad to accept her for whom she is, and what she has become, a writer. “When he was finally finished after what seemed like hours, my father looked up and asked: where can we get more copies of this for the relatives?”(114). In this quote, Cisneros’ dad really shows how proud he feels towards his daughter and how much he enjoyed her story, making Cisneros feel appreciated. In Amy Tan’s short story, “Mother Tongue” she writes about how she is passionate for all the different types of English that she is capable…
James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis” illuminates how too much pride can cause us to treat our loved ones in cruel ways. The narrator, or Brother, begins with his brother who he named Doodle that was a disappointment or invalid as he was physically different from the other kids. As Doodle and Brother grew up they went everywhere together and the narrator was embarrassed by of Doodle, so he felt as if he would teach him the things they thought he wasn't capable of to be like the others such as to walk. Once Brother had taught Doodle to walk he decided to create a development program for Doodle before school would start. The narrator one day took Doodle to learn how to swim at Horsehead Landing, until a storm came and they decided to go back home once it was worsening. The narrator had started to…
Analyse the influences that shaped the actions of this person (300 words – 6 marks)…
Perhaps the most important factor in a person’s development is his or her family. Family members can shape some one’s thoughts and can make it difficult for a person to fit in one’s environment. In the novel Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko, Tayo’s auntie is an antagonistic woman who is concerned about other people’s judgment toward her and her family. Her unfriendly behavior sprang from her low self-esteem and the anger she reproached because her sister’s unruly actions.…
Rodriguez describes himself as a “Scholarship Boy,” obsessed with school and education, and ultimately losing himself as a person. In losing himself as a person he also lost connection with family and a social life. Rodriguez faces a huge tension within his family, which was his view of his parents and teachers. Most normal kids would idolize their parents and aspire to be like them when they grow older. That was not the case for Rodriguez. He was ashamed of his parents and embarrassed of how uneducated they were. Rodriguez describes in the essay his views of his parents through his metaphorical self, “The Scholarship Boy.” He states, “He cannot afford to admire his parents. He permits himself embarrassment at their lack of education.” Rodriguez instead focuses all his adoration and idolization on his teachers, aspiring to be like them and even telling his mother that he planned to become a teacher some day. He describes how he feels about his teachers stating, “I wanted to be like my teachers, to possess their knowledge, to assume their authority, their confidence, even to assume a teacher’s persona.” Rodriguez’s feelings about his parents and teachers contrast with one another. The people that should have a huge impact on his life, his parents, have little to no positive impacts on him, only negative. Due to his disparity to never be like his parents and being ashamed of them, he puts focus into…
For this paper I will be discussing three poems. They are Wood Butcher by Norman Hindley, Behind Grandma 's House by Gary Soto, and Manners by Elizabeth Bishop. I will be examining the common theme I found throughout the three poems. I found that to be how the relatives teach lessons to their relation of a younger generation and the different approaches to their teaching.…
Throughout the ages, authors have been known to use many of their life experiences in their literary works. They use certain moments that have been imprinted in their heads, because in some way these specific experiences have changed their lives. For instance, Theodore Roethke wrote the poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” in which he writes about a moment from his early childhood that probably affected him so deeply that he was never able to forget about it. This shows that certain moments in our childhood are particularly crucial to the way we turn out to be as adults.…
Despite the mother’s countless efforts to oppress the need for change within the lives of her children, the narrator’s father seemed to have had the upper hand in the development of their children despite his limited efforts. An evidence of this can be witnessed in the occupation adopted by the narrator; as described by the line “I have to worry about being late and weather I have a clean shirt and weather my car will start and about all the other countless things one must worry about when he teaches at a great Midwestern university.” (Macleod 93) Portraying quite clearly that the narrator chose to pursue the path that his father had started him on. As opposed to the path that his mother had liked for him to have been on. Furthermore, proving that change is something that everyone adores, regardless of their age. And it was the father’s ability to accept that change within the lives of his children that allowed for him to have a greater impact upon their lives that their own mother.…
It seems like it has been years since I set foot in my kindergarten classroom. Those were among the hardest years in my life. Before school, I was accustomed to speaking my native languages, Tagalog and Spanish. Hardly knowing much English I soon began to struggle in class trying hard just to sustain with the rest of the pack. I did not understand why certain words went together, why people talked the way they did, why I have to mimic the same hand motions on paper like the others to communicate. Curiosity of the other language continued to haunt me each and every day, that is, until I was transferred to another class. This new teacher was like the candle that lit up my dark room. To this day I still remember Mr. Schall sitting down beside me on the rainbow rug with a book in hand, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. As he read I absorbed each word like a sponge. I soaked up all the secret knowledge confined within the pages. “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom will there be enough room,” he read over and over again. Will there be enough room? I asked myself. I understood the importance and difficulty of earning a great education from that point on I knew that I had to preserve and improve on my literature. Kindergarten was the establishment of my literary knowledge.…
What they look like on the outside and not what they are on the inside. The librarian behind the counter scanning books was always bored and strict. The friend who always smiled and was outgoing never had insecurities or difficulties to deal with. Never did I think that the librarian may have been adventure seeking hiker or that my friend experienced anxiety in every social setting with more than two people. A child’s mental capacity for thinking only took me to analyze the first layer of the person’s character. My mother’s diary changed everything for me. Although I came to realize that people did not have one characteristic as I grew, my mother’s words threw this understanding at me and forced it down my throat. It caused me to experience firsthand how ignorant I was, how uncaring I was of my own family. Here I was, sitting on the comfortable, plush couch complaining about cleaning, when my mother suffered every day at the nursing home cleaning after the…
Our choices that we make as children and young adults can have lasting effects on our lives later on. This is shown in Wes Moore’s book The Other Wes Moore as he describes how his decisions and role models affected his life and how the other Wes Moore's affected his. Similarities and differences between the role models and choices of both Wes Moores were explained and compared in the The Other Wes Moore.…
The negative influence factor which radiates from father, Don, in Lenore Keeshig-Tobias ' essay, "He Was a Boxer When I Was Small," is a great example of how a parent 's actions can brainwash and alter their children 's future decisions in life. Author Keeshig-Tobias grew up in a miserable household raised by her feared, alcoholic father, who held frequent temper tantrums in order to establish his parental authority. Don has many flaws that make him a bad father, including his temper, ignorance, and immaturity. As a result of Don 's juvenile actions, his daughter, Keeshig-Tobias, becomes susceptible to retaining his bad characteristics throughout the rest of her life. While an important part of Keeshig-Tobias ' childhood was learning to better understand her father 's actions, a relentless danger is that she will misinterpret his wrong doings and reason enough rational sense to substitute these actions for the ones she believes are correct.…