Two Kinds by Amy Tan
In most families, many teenagers and mothers butt heads when making decisions. In Two Kinds by Amy Tan, the beliefs of the mother and daughter are polar opposites in what is thought to be in the best interest of the daughter. It is perceived from the story that the mother wants her daughter to have the best life possible. However, the only way that the mother believes that this will be possible will be for the girl to become a prodigy, which the daughter realizes is not the case. One of the main themes in this book is that no one can force someone to be who they are not. So, by the constant strain from the mother to daughter increases with each tasks the mother makes the daughter try to become a prodigy, the more self realization occurs on the daughter’s part to realize she is not a genius or great pianist. Once the girl understands that she “could only be [her]” (Tan 138), she falls away from the ideal daughter her mother wants her to be, and the idea that she “would soon become perfect” (731) by becoming a prodigy. The girl in the story becomes so obsessed and “determined not to try” (734), she materializes into the kind of daughter who “follows her own mind”(737) instead of the daughter who is obedient. In conclusion, even though the mother and daughter grow distant by the end of the story, they both come to realize there is more than one way to achieve happiness. I really liked this story and thought there was a good underlying theme and message, which is very common in most families around the world.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Times like These (Anything Blog)
There are times like these
Where everything works.
Times like theses
Where you feel unstoppable
Capable of reaching the top of a flagpole
Sixty feet high.
A time where you feel the ecstasy
Of lifting your hands off the handle bars
For the first time.
At times like these,
You are no longer the misfit peg
Unable to mesh with the inner gears
Of the grandfather clock.
Time like these
Have finally come.
Worry has washed away
From whom I will sit with at lunch
The butterflies have finally ceased fluttering
Inside my stomach.
Panic attacks have stopped occurring
When stressing for tests the next day
Now I am more capable with coping
At times like these.
Self respect and self worth
Have come to mind when making decisions
I am more sure
Of who I want to be.
All the times that haven’t been
Have made the times like these
All the more enjoyable.
Because when you are living
Your dreams,
Times like these
Have never felt any better.
Uncategorized | Comment (1)Short Stories
Standing up, she knew she was injured.
She shuddered as the phone beeped with a message.
Silently, the coffin was lowered into the ground.
Also, we spend $150 a week on groceries (The Lesson — Question)
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Racism vs. Prejudice
Racism hatred or intolerance of another race or other races. Prejudice an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.
After reading these definitions, I think the man in the story Say Yes by Tobias Wolff is just has prejudice against African Americans and just doesn’t understand them. I don’t think he is a racist. i think the story is written so that we can see how many people have such little understanding of the people that aren’t like them.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara
Not everyone in life has the same ideas of gratitude towards money and material things. For some, $100 dollars could be enough to buy food for a family of five for a year, while for others, $100 is like a small birthday present. This theme of the idea that not everyone lives the same way is evident in the story The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara. Young black children learn the meaning of studying and succeeding in life when an old proper woman, Miss Moore, takes them on a field trip to the richer area of New York City to 5th Avenue, where they understand how well some people live compared to them. Unwilling to cooperate, the young narrator of the story becomes angry and jealous of all the nice things she sees in the toy store, F.A.O Swartchz, and realizes how little $5 is in the real world compared to at home. Even though I think that this story’s theme is clear, I did not like the slang style of writing it was written in, even though it clearly potrayed Sylvia’s uneducated lifestyle. I also didn’t like the way that the characters disrespected Miss Moore and their opportunity to go into New York City, even though the point that they were very ignorant came across. Overall, I think the children understood the lesson Miss Moore was trying to teach them, even though I wasn’t fond of the actual story.
Uncategorized | Comment (1)The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara
Not everyone in life has the same ideas of gratitude towards money and material things. For some, $100 dollars could be enough to buy food for a family of five for a year, while for others, $100 is like a small birthday present. This theme of the idea that not everyone lives the same way is evident in the story The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara. Young black children learn the meaning of studying and succeeding in life when an old proper woman, Miss Moore, takes them on a field trip to the richer area of New York City to 5th Avenue, where they understand how well some people live compared to them. Unwilling to cooperate, the young narrator of the story becomes angry and jealous of all the nice things she sees in the toy store, F.A.O Swartchz, and realizes how little $5 is in the real world compared to at home. Even though I think that this story’s theme is clear, I did not like the slang style of writing it was written in. I also didn’t like the way that the characters disrespected Miss Moore and their opportunity to go into New York City, even though the point that they were very ignorant came across. Overall, I think the children understood the lesson Miss Moore was trying to teach them, even though I wasn’t fond of the actual story.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Samuel by Grace Payley
I don’t feel sorry for what I did. That boy deserved the consequences of his actions. He should have been sitting down on the seat inside the subway car, not jumping and wobbling on the connector.They knew that it was a dangerous stunt. They were just being irresponsible and stupid. I am sure their moms had no idea where they were. She would never have let them be out there if she were here. If they were with their parents, they would have behaved how I always acted as a boy. Calm and responsible. I never behaved like that. If those women told me to sit down, I would have. I always did what I was told and was rewarded to by adults for my good behavior. I was never like those boys in my junior high who fooled around all the time. I wasn’t like Bobby Jackson, that’s for sure. Always drinking and staying out all night. Never taking no for an answer. I wonder what he’s doing now. Those kids should have listened to that woman in the red sweater. None of this would have ever happened. But I can’t be blamed for his death.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Everyday Use by Alice Walker
Everyday Use is the story of a family’s experience of one daughter returning from being away. The story comes from the mind of a low class African American mother who faces difficulties with her social class, appearance, level of knowledge, and raising two daughters as a single mother. I liked the story because the characters were described in a way that made them seem non-generic and real, and the rural scene and lifestyle came to life by the mother’s imagery. The mother painted a picture of the type of woman she was clearly in my mind, and the struggle of how she was different from the ideal person her daughter Dee wished her to be was vivid. I thought the story was easy to follow, and I was able to feel the tension between Dee and her mom when Dee wanted to take the quilts for herself that had great significance to her younger sister Maggie, even though Dee only wanted them to hang and be art. I am not sure of a clear theme within the story, but I do think that the difference in peoples’ lifestyles and family played an important role in Everyday Use.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
The Lottery was an interesting short story, seeming fun and light, but took a turn for the worst with a gruesome ending. I thought it was a great story of ritual within a small town, and the perseverance of the people to abide by things that were meaningful to their town in the past. When first reading The Lottery, I was captivated in suspense, wondering what prize this lottery would entail, and who would win, thinking it was a fun natured chance lottery. I had no idea that this lottery could possibly be a bad ritual, ending in a cruel torture and an inevitable death for the winner. I like Shirley Jackson’s way of tying you to the different people of the town, and making the reader be engaged in the suspense of the lottery. The text was easy to follow, and not until the family was picked did I notice the suspense and signs start to turn sour. After the chosen mother realized she was the one to win the lottery, I knew it meant she was the town’s sacrifice. The author tried to show a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence in the reader’s life. I think she made this point by explaining that the people of this town ritually killed an innocent person every year without stopping their everyday life or thinking about how wrong it was to kill some for no good reason.
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