In Kathleen M. Higgins work The Music of Our Lives she discusses her theory on how music positively benefits us, not only as a culture, but an individuals. She opens her writing by elaborating two very profound quotes on the importance of music, one by Plato and the other Confucius. Both quotes, alone with Higgins words, come to the conclusion that music is a central tool in promoting harmony in the soul and connecting our cross cultural society. Kathleen M. Higgins than goes on to compare the views of Allan Bloom. Despite devoting a chapter in his book Closing of the American Mind to maliciously attacking rock music, he keeps in mind that music still serves a ethical function. Bloom expresses how deeply music sears deep into the souls of…
Josie Mendez-Negrete’s novel, Las Hijas de Juan: Daughters Betrayed, is a very disturbing tale about brutal domestic abuse and incest. Negrete’s novel is an autobiography regarding experiences of incest in a working-class Mexican American family. It is Josie Mendez-Negrete’s story of how she, her siblings, and her mother survived years of violence and sexual abuse at the hands of her father. “Las Hijas de Juan" is told chronologically, from the time Mendez-Negrete was a child until she was a young adult trying, along with the rest of her family, to come to terms with her father 's brutal legacy. It is a upsetting story of abuse and shame compounded by cultural and linguistic isolation and a system of patriarchy that devalues the experiences of women and girls. At the same time, "Las Hijas de Juan" is an inspirational tale, filled with strong women and hard-won solace found in traditional Mexican cooking, songs, and storytelling.…
Gloria Jiménez wrote an essay at Tuffs University in 2003 named, “Against All Odds and Against the Common Good (Jiménez 116). The purpose of this essay is to persuade and support the following thesis: “Still, when all is said and done about lotteries bringing a vast amount of money into the lives of many people into the lives of a few, the states should not be in the business of urging people to gamble (Jiménez 116).” The evidence given in support of toward this argument does not point toward the proper thesis identified in the beginning of the essay.…
When the novel, My Sister's Keeper was made into a movie different characters are the focus and the ending and its plot twist is changed. Jodi Picoult wrote this novel in a special format. All her chapters were divided by each character in the novel and they would narrate their feelings upon central problem which was Kate’s Sickness. Jodi Picoult worked at several of different jobs throughout her life. One of her major goals was becoming a writer. For Picoult, My Sister's Keeper was a big accomplishment. Jodi Picoult made Kate’s sickness and Anna's lawsuit a central issue which allowed the main character's to share their stories and feelings about it.She also received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Dartmouth College in 2010 and another…
Fiesta 1980, written by Junot Diaz, is about a Hispanic family that lives in New York. Their relatives, tío (uncle) Miguel and tía(aunt) Yrma, just moved from the Dominican Republic to the United states and therefore they are throwing their aunt and uncle a party. There is much representation on how the Hispanic people really live embedded within this short story. Such as the different roles of each family member, the extreme since of loyalty, actions that benefit everyone, and the different ways of showing affection and celebrating.…
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…
After a summer full of early morning workouts and endless hours in a stuffy gym, the week of tryouts was finally here. As I shuffled into the gym early Monday morning, I had no idea what I was getting into. Little did I know that this would be a week of high school volleyball tryouts that included: conditioning, drills, and scrimmages. By the time Friday rolled around, I was physically and emotionally drained. Surrounded by older, more experienced players, I was sure that this was the beginning of the end. When I was selected to become a part of the team, I was overwhelmed with pride knowing that I had succeeded where others had fallen short. Although some of the characters in Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof were able to aggrandize through the pride they had gained throughout life, others fell short of this success and instead spent time drowning themselves in reminiscence and rum.…
Mariachi is a traditional style of music in Mexico. It is seen at local and cultural festivals, theatres, and even fiestas (parties). Most Mariachi songs are about love and romance, even lost love. Until the 1930’s Mariachi was unknown to folks outside of the region. It was the music of county people, so Mariachi groups were local or semi-professional.…
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.…
Isabel Allende grew up amidst a massive struggle in her home country of Chile, where her uncle was assassinated for his political policies and she had to flee the country. However, out of the rough ground grew a rose—Allende’s literature. Many of her works are heavily inspired by her trying childhood, especially the short story “Simple Maria.” In “Simple Maria,” a story in which the main character that is a prostitute becomes mentally disabled after being hit by a locomotive, many ties can be drawn from the story to Allende’s childhood. Isabel Allende used this short story as an allegory to her own life and the struggles that she had to endure during her childhood.…
Joan of Arc was one of the most influential and historical females of the 15th century. At the time of Joan of Arc’s birth, France was involved in a long-running war with England known as the Hundred Years’ War. Her journey through this war eventually led France to an astonishing victory over England. But it wasn’t she alone who helped her through this but God himself. She claims at an early age to have heard a Saint of God inform her of her destiny to “drive out the English from France and bring about the coronation of Charles VII to the throne.” (Thurston 1910) Months had passed until finally her visions came into place. She had made alliances with Jean de Metz and Bertrand de Poulengy…
Pride is unpredictable and often damaging. It has the power to enslave people, driving people to the edge. It clouds their judgment, awakening the cruelty, sheltered deep within their human mind. Pride plays a big role in the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis.” The brother desires pride so greatly that he sacrifices his brother, Doodle, to get it, regardless of the consequences.…
let me introduce to my family the Garcia Family. what we like to do is go camping every summer and go to Madeline Island that's where we camp. we like to play board games together like monopoly so here we go I will introduce you to the Garcia Family.…
Lydia Maria Child makes a strong point when she speaks of how men objectify women in literature and base women’s value on how much the women’s beauty appeals to men. The objectification of women that Child speaks out against is quite apparent within the selected paragraph from James Fenimore Cooper’s work The Pioneers. Within just the description of Elizabeth that Cooper narrates from the viewpoint of Remarkable Pettibone, a reader will note the issues that Child mentions.…
In Sister Imelda there are many themes that could be presented as the “main theme” of the story, however, there is one point that stands above the rest. The main problem a reader has to address in Sister Imelda is whether or not Imelda is truly dedicated to her vocation as a sister or if she simply could never adapt to life outside the convent. This contributes to the main point of the story being the lack of conviction Imelda has for her vocation. At the beginning of the story Imelda has just returned from some time spent outside the convent and the fact that she has returned surprises the narrator, who cannot imagine living out the rest of her existence in the convent. In fact, the narrator hates the convent and talks to her best friend frequently about the day they will leave forever. The only reason her feelings change is when the relationship between Sister Imelda and herself develops into a clandestine romance. Suddenly, the narrator has a reason to stay at the convent and realizes she is going to have to make a big decision. Even though the narrator has begun to think about staying in the convent to be with the woman she loves, she still yearns for the outside world, which could even guide the reader into thinking that the only person within the relationship who is truly serious about it would have to be Imelda. As the relationship between the two women is implied to have become more and more physical with fleeting kisses and secret meetings, Imelda begins to talk more and more to the narrator about wanting her to stay and live out their lives in the convent together forever. This puts more and more pressure on the narrator and this is the point where the reader might question why exactly Sister Imelda is so hell-bent on staying in the convent where she has to keep her love a secret, as opposed to the outside world where the two wouldn’t have to be as secretive, even if being openly lesbian wasn’t exactly socially acceptable. This may…