Coming Of Age By James Joyce And A P By John Updike

Guiseppi La Mura Instructor Moore LIT 09/3/15 Coming of Age Growing up and learning to be an adult is part of everyone’s life. Emotions run rampant with love, anger, and uncertainty. Short stories Araby by James Joyce and A P by John Updike create perfect examples of coming to age experiences which individuals can relate to. The array of emotions and hardships we experience throughout youth aid in creating a culturally advanced and diverse society. First love, everyone has experienced this incredible milestone in their life before. Love can make you do fun things. In the first person short story Araby, the protagonist has a deep love for his friend Magens sister. The narrator makes this known by saying â€Å"Her image accompanies me even in places most hostile to romance†. She inebriated him with feelings of joy and excitement. The time of the story takes place during a big sale. Magens sister is upset she can’t attend because of prior engagements, but the protagonist promises he will return with a gift for her. At this time in the story the characters passion for Magens sister originates a quest for him. Love does crazy things to people, it brainwashes you to do odd things for people your affectionate for. You would do anything for someone you truly care about whether the task be simple or complex. The day grows darker and the protagonist is eager to get to the sale and complete his quest for his queen, what any gentleman would do. Soon his uncle stubbles through the doorShow MoreRelatedCompare And Contrast Araby And A P Short Story999 Words   |  4 PagesA coming of age story is when the protagonist experiences climatic event that leads them to adulthood. The event is usually tough but leads to a realization or epiphany. The short stories â€Å"AP† by John Updike and â€Å"Araby† by James Joyce both reflect coming of age stories. In the story AP, the narrator, Sammy quits his job to stand up for the three girls wearing â€Å"nothing but their bathing suits†() In the story Araby, the narrator shows himself growing up through discovering his sexuality. InRead More`` Araby `` By James Joyce1885 Words   |  8 PagesJacelyn Donevant March 4th 2015 ENG 102 Professor Abbott As we age into adult life we are faced with decisions and situations where we are forced to think for ourselves and suffer through the consequences of those decisions. Through those bad decisions and terrible ideas we shape ourselves into the adult we are creating ourselves to be. â€Å"AP† by John Updike and â€Å"Araby† by James Joyce both introduce two young protagonist who both share in blinded adoration for young women. Both young men attemptsRead MoreThe Power of Araby by James Joyce Essay1907 Words   |  8 Pagesabout is â€Å"Araby† by James Joyce. James Joyce does a great job creating vivid images in the readers mind and creates a theme that most of us can relate. In this paper I will be discussing five scholarly peer reviewed journals that also discusses the use of image and theme that James Joyce created in his short story â€Å"Araby†. Before I start diving into discussing these five scholarly peer review journals, I would like to just wri te a little bit about â€Å"Araby† by James Joyce. James Joyce is an Irish writerRead MoreJohn Updike s A P And James Joyce s Araby1877 Words   |  8 PagesComing-of-age is a chapter that every individual must inevitably trek through in order to grow and mature into one’s own self. In John Updike’s AP and James Joyce’s Araby, the theme of growth permeates throughout both narratives as their respective protagonists fabricate an ideal world from their own naive perspectives, only to shed their ignorant fantasies about how they believe to understand that the world can bend to their decisions to truly understand the cruelty behind world they live in: reachingRead MoreLiterary Criticism : The Free Encyclopedia 7351 Words   |  30 Pages(German pronunciation: [ˈbÉ ªldÊŠÅ‹s.Ê oËÅ'maË n]; German: novel of formation, education, culture),[a] novel of formation, novel of education,[2] or coming-of-age story (though it may also be known as a subse t of the coming-of-age story) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood (coming of age),[3] in which character change is extremely important.[4][5] Contents [hide] 1 Origin 2 Plot outline 3 Examples 3.1 Precursors 3.2 17th century

My fathers song (Poem analysis) Free Essay Example, 1250 words

The joy that the boy feels for his father’s â€Å"undivided attention† is greater than his fear. Moreover, the plot shows the diction of a working-class family and the difference between the boy and his father. The â€Å"palm caked hard by dirt† is a sign of a working-man’s life (Roethke 14). Roethke is known to not follow the working-class life of his father by being a writer, so the poem matches his real life, how he must have feared his drunken father who has a different livelihood from him (Jadwin 1). The poem shows the attitudes of fear and love, both intense emotions for his father. These two boys from Ortiz’s and Roethke’s poems are reliving bonding moments with their fathers, though they share somewhat different attitudes toward them. Apart from the plot that shows a son’s love for his father, the poems are similar in their use of alliteration to show the impact of a father in imparting cultural values to their children. Ortiz uses alliteration that emphasizes his connection to his father. The words â€Å"son† and â€Å"song† are alliterations with internal rhymes. We will write a custom essay sample on My father's song (Poem analysis) or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Since the title says that the poem is about his father’s song, and â€Å"song† blends with son too, which suggests how the song or identity of the father influences the identity of his son. The â€Å"soft† and â€Å"sand† words suggest the power of their environment in forming identities. The sand is related to planting, and planting is both an economic and cultural process for Ortiz. Leon Lewis describes Ortiz’s poetry where Ortiz sees his role in the â€Å"preservation and presentation of his cultural heritage† (1). Culture is central to â€Å"My Fathers Song. † As Native Americans, planting is part of their way of life. The softness of the sand indicates the tender feelings that both father and son have for the planting that does not only give them food, but also asserts their cultural connection to their Native American traditions. Roethke also shows how much his father imparted cultural values to him as a child. Waltz is something that became popular with immigrants because of its initial â€Å"scandalous† image, something that only the â€Å"Other† or the marginalized people danced (Jadwin 1). The little boy’s father seems to dance the waltz frequently when he is drunk, for he comes with the smell of â€Å"whiskey† (1). His drunkenness may trigger cultural memories of his youth, when gayness and innocence were alive. Waltz is a cultural dance that may have important emotional functions for the father. By dancing it with his son, he tries to impart these values of freedom and happiness that he once enjoyed in his youth.

A Modest Proposal Was Way - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 538 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2019/05/08 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Modest Proposal Essay Did you like this example? A modest proposal was way for us readers to understand the hardship of poor people. The author wanted us as readers to understand about protecting poor children and the poor people of Irish from the rich people of England. Swift wanted to aim at safeguarding families that had a burden of not being able to care for their kids. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "A Modest Proposal Was Way" essay for you Create order The entire country insisted that children would become more useful in society. A plan was set to help reduce the population of suffering children because these parents were unable to provide the help that these kids needed. Swifts idea was an attempt that would give a way that was fair for making the children useful. He used the reasoning that argued that the problem he created would need to be his solution. He planned to make the children fat, so they can use food that can make the wealthy landowners. He then analyzed the numbers with the price and how long of the weight of the children that showed how it would consume. Jonathan, was able to solve the problem of the overpopulated,   unemployment as well as the concentrate of the growing in the economy. Parents will then be able to cut their own cost as well as their losses. With the help of improving the economy of the nation in general. His first proposal was that he wanted to lessen the number of papists, who were yearly overrun, in which being the principal breeders of the nation, as well as our most dangerous enemies. Second, the more impoverished tenants would have something valuable of their own, in which by law may be made liable to distress, that would help pay the landlords rent. Third, maintainer of a hundred thousand children, two years old, cannot be computed at less than ten shillings. Fourth, constant breeders, other than the gain of the eight shillings that sterling per annum of the sale of the children, will be rid of the charge from maintaining them after the first year. Fifthly, the food would likewise bring great custom to the taverns. Sixthly, Great inducement to marriage. His ideas were to provide for the infants and wanted to relieve the poor and give them some form of pressure on the rich. There were so many families in need of help and couldnt afford to care for their kids due to the fact the population was increasing, and there was not that many jobs or little money available. Swift will continue to support that the proposal with these details until the end. The lesson that I took from this reading is that when there is an overcrowded populated country, there will be fewer jobs and money available to help. The landlords were charging crazy high prices for rent and knowing that a lot of people could not afford to pay the rent. This lead to a lot of people becoming homeless. The English government did nothing to help them. Nothing has changed today, due to the fact the government is still not assisting people, and more and more people have become homeless. Everybody wants to work so when you have a lot of people that want to work, and there will be less jobs available.

The Case For Reparations A Moral And Spiritual Awakening

The issue of reparations in return for the egregious injustices committed in the form of slavery by our predecessors, is an important topic dissected in The Marrow of Tradition and Coates’ article â€Å"The Case for Reparations†. The cornerstone of this problem is the idea that due to all the years of generational oppression and discrimination, what form will this reparation end up taking? A reparation that is based on doling out mere financial support for those that endured such brutality is insulting the honor of a people that were used for self-gain and under the guise of racial superiority. Simply treating this issue in a one-dimensional viewpoint that can be solved through a monetary basis will not suffice, and is stripping from it the†¦show more content†¦The notion that absolute atonement for slavery is possible, is not feasible as the wound will always exist in the hearts of those that endured. The novel presents us with the dichotomous nature of the de finition of justice, that can come in the form of vengeance through violence, evident in the case of Josh Green or through the power of diction, an almost poetic justice in the case of Janet Miller. The animosity that Josh Green possesses for Captain McBane and the revenge he seeks is symbolic of being a product of the hateful ideology of the â€Å"old South†, which was predicated on the notion of white supremacy and mistreatment of blacks. The old South is characterized in the following quote, â€Å"No; but we thought to overrule God’s laws, and we enslaved these people for our greed†¦laying to our souls the flattering unction that we were making of barbarous negroes civilized and Christian men† (Chesnutt 173). Captain McBane was responsible for the death of Green’s father, which scarred Josh as a child and became his sole motivation in wanting to one day kill him. Dr. Miller acted to quell his rage, bringing up the tenets of Christianity in forgivi ng and absolving his enemy crime, but Josh remained obstinate in his beliefs. The reality was that such a crime could never be forgotten and shaped his mindset as an individual. A key point that Green makes,Show MoreRelatedThe Treaty Of Versailles On The German State3407 Words   |  14 PagesAfter The Great War, the citizens of Germany looked for a new hope. The Treaty of Versailles wrecked the German state and morale seemingly beyond repair with its harsh terms of negotiation. Of course, the German people expected some reparations to be demanded, but they were shocked when the meeting of the Allied Powers at the Paris Peace Conference resulted in the creation of the Treaty of Versailles, a harsh, demanding cry of retaliation. The Treaty of Versailles effectively forced the return of

How do The Odyssey and The Crucible use the hero in order to explore the concerns of their times Free Essays

The concept of what constitutes a hero varies according to the values, culture, context and setting of the society in question. Homer in his epic poem The Odyssey and Arthur Miller in The Crucible through the portrayal of the hero’s in their texts; Odysseus and John Proctor, reflect the values of the time in which the text was set but more importantly provide a social commentary on the context of the texts. Both looking to the past to provide answers and draw parallels with the present. We will write a custom essay sample on How do The Odyssey and The Crucible use the hero in order to explore the concerns of their times? or any similar topic only for you Order Now The Odyssey was written approximately in 700 BC and was set in twelfth century BC, in what was known as the Bronze Age. The Greeks believed that this earlier period was a more glorious and sublime age, when Gods still frequented the Earth and heroic, godlike mortals with superhuman attributes populated Greece. The Odyssey is episodic in nature and in many ways consisted of nation building myths which were unifying and drew on what was common in Greek culture by detailing the exploits of the classical archetypal Greek hero, Odysseus. Essentially it is an epic tale in which the wicked are destroyed, right prevails, and the family is reunited. On the other hand, The Crucible was written in the early 1950’s in America and is set in 1692 in Salem, a small town in colonial Massachusetts. It follows the witch-hunts of 1692 which began when several young girls were stricken with an illness characterized by symptoms of hallucinations and seizures, which were ascribed to witchcraft. This led to the eventual execution of thirty individuals for the crime of witchcraft. They were tried and convicted in an atmosphere of moral absolutism through which Miller alludes to the events which took place in the 1950’s before the House of Un-American Activities Committee in Washington. The Crucible can be viewed as allegorical text not for anti-communism, or as a faithful account of the Salem trials, but as a powerful timeless description of how intolerance and hysteria can intersect and tear a community apart. Furthermore, in contrast with Odysseus, John Proctor is a tragic hero, who would rather die then confess and lived with a marred name. This idea of nobility is inseparable from the tragedy genre. Tragedy in many ways enlightens, in that it points the heroic finger at the enemy of a man’s freedom. The quest for freedom is the quality in the tragedy which exalts. Both texts are framed by religious imagery. In The Odyssey Odysseus does not question the power of the Gods and in many ways Homers text can be viewed as a moral lesson, through the omnipresent nature of the god’s as they guide the wandering hero home. This reflects the Greek notion that the gods exercise absolute power over the mortal world. In the poem mortals are constantly making sacrifices to the gods to earn their favour. Conversely, offending the gods creates immense problems as is illustrated through Poseidon’s grudge against Odysseus for blinding his son Polyphemos. Moreover, it is only through Athena’s guidance throughout the text that Odysseus can survive his dangerous adventures. This distinguishes an important point as it reiterates not only the all-powerful nature of the gods but also introduces the idea that if Odysseus the hero cannot survive without guidance from the gods then the rest of the members of society must accept their fate as lying in the hands of the gods. What must also be noted however are the characteristics of the gods, which were a mixture of magical, immortal powers and basic human instincts, the gods were not perfect. Through this portrayal of the gods in the text Homer presents a more glorious time in Greek culture in a time when Greece was only a shadow of its former greatness. This however varies in The Crucible which is set in a theocratic society, in which church and state are one and the religion practised was very austere form of Protestantism known as Puritanism. In this form of society there is no room for deviation from social norms, since any individual whose private life does not conform to the established moral laws presents a threat not only to society but also to the rule of God: â€Å"You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between†. John Proctor challenges this religious identity of time and shows how man has used god to manipulate and control individuals and it is ultimately his choice not to confess to witchcraft, which is a true religious and personal stance. In this way The Crucible can be viewed a symbolic of the paranoia of the communism which pervaded America in the 1950s. Several parallels existed between the witch hunts of 1692 and the House Un-American Activities Committee’s rooting out of suspected communists. As with the alleged witches of Salem, suspected Communists were encouraged to confess their crimes and to â€Å"name names,† identifying others sympathetic to their radical cause. Miller through the actions of the hero Proctor foregrounds the McCarthyist excesses, which wronged many innocents, making a strong political statement. Furthermore, both Odysseus and Proctor are flawed and fallible and both of them fall into the seductive charms of the ‘seductresses’ as is portrayed in the texts. Women are presented as either ‘sainted virgins’; Elizabeth and Penelope or ‘seductresses’; Abigail and Calypso this dichotomy represents the patriarchal structures of the context of the texts. Moreover the texts also highlight the dangers of giving women power and of female sexual potency. Odysseus’ infidelity when he is trapped by Calypso serves to reflect gender roles and the double standard in Greek society. Homer does not invite the responder to view Odysseus’ infidelity with any disdain or disapproval: â€Å"withdrawing into the cavern’s deep recesses, long in each others arms they lost themselves in love† (#250-51). It is somehow acceptable for Odysseus to sleep with another woman, while Penelope is represented as morally dubious for allowing the suitors to remain in the house. It is only Calypso who challenges these gender roles: â€Å"You unrivalled lords of jealously/ scandalized when goddess sleep with mortals†¦ † (#131-32). While Homer portrays these sexist views, he also through Calypso’s dialogue brings to attention the double standards of the society and more importantly introduces a new idea which may have been viewed as subversive in Greek culture at the time. On the other hand in The Crucible, John Proctor as the play’s tragic hero is honest, upright and blunt spoken, Proctor is a good man however his fatal flaw is his lust for Abigail Williams which leads to their affair. Proctor is very self-critical and this in a way reflects how his moral code is a product of the society in which he exists: â€Å"But I will cut my hand off before I’ll ever reach for you again†. Once the trials begin, Proctor realizes that he can stop Abigail’s rampage through Salem but only if he confesses to this adultery. This highlights how the hero must face a series of trials and tribulations in order to be redeemed, in Proctor’s case these are more physiological battles whereas Odysseus faces more physical challenges. This illustrates the way in which the different contexts result in the formation of varying hero’s reflecting the values of that particular society. Finally, Arthur Miller once said: â€Å"Nobody wants to be a hero†¦ but in every man there is something he cannot give up and still remain himself†¦ If he gives that up, he becomes a different man, not himself†¦ It is Proctor’s self-critical nature which distinguishes him because he does not set out to be a hero. Normally he would not be considered a saintly individual, and he has not great eagerness to be a martyr due to his underlying guilt at his infidelity, which in turn he projects on Elizabeth: â€Å"I do not judge you. The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you. † Nevertheless when put to the final test, the meaning here of ‘crucible’, he will go to his death rather than irrevocably compromise his integrity. Through his representation of Proctor as the tragic hero Miller creates a new post-modern ideology of the hero in which the hero is not extraordinary physically or mentally but rather what is heroic is the individual who stands by his personal principals, he does not set out to be the hero but rather the situation merely reveals the hero within. This notion explores the concerns of 1950 America in which the hero’s were not the McCarthyist’s as it might seem on outward examination but rather those who only through their personal actions transpired to be essentially heroic. In conclusion, The Odyssey and The Crucible through the representation of the hero in text foreground the concerns of their times. The texts have revealed to me that what constitutes the hero varying according to context and setting and can help us gain further insight into the concerns of the society in question. Essentially the characteristics, which form the hero, are fluid subject to the values and culture of the times. How to cite How do The Odyssey and The Crucible use the hero in order to explore the concerns of their times?, Papers

Movie Genre free essay sample

In a dystopian era plagued by radiation, Dredd is one of the Judges, which is the only presence of law in the land. The most feared of all Judges, Dredd is on a mission to stop the distribution and use of a new drug, â€Å"Slo-Mo†. While training a new Judge, Dredd and his trainee are caught in a slum apartment where a drug lord, Ma-Ma, has gained control over almost all of the inhabitants. The two Judges must fight for survival when the futuristic apartment building’s security is taken over by the drug lord with one mission: to kill Dredd and save the business. Films are generally pretty personal things. What one person loves, another may hate, and there are many concepts that can or cannot be included to create the desired effect. Regardless, there are a few things a film needs that everyone can agree on; an interesting plot, believable characters, captivating dialogue, a realistic set design, and must have a destination (and get there in a reasonable time). We will write a custom essay sample on Movie Genre or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Dredd accomplishes all of these with ease, and was a film worth seeing. The plot is pretty basic, and while the basic idea of clashing with authority and who will prevail isn’t relatively new, Dredd presents the concept in a fresh way. Thrilling and suspenseful, Dredd is very well written and captivates the audience. NPR reviewed the film, stating, â€Å"Dredd works because its an action flick with wide appeal that takes risks it doesnt need to in its delightfully off-putting violence and daring style and those choices pay off in a singular and exhilarating movie experience. Its savage, beautiful and loads of fun. (ARNOLD)† Taking something so extraordinarily simple and making a masterpiece is what Alex Garland, the writer, has done. While there seems to be a constant flow of action scenes, the rising action isn’t typical backstory stuff. It offers the pertinent information, but in an energetic way. The climax is certainly the definition of, with more guns and ammunition than you can shake a stick at. Dredd lacks in the falling action, but after the previous high point, any more action may border on too much. Judges are self-described as â€Å"Judge, Jury and Executioner†, being given the power to determine charges on scene, and execute the appropriate punishment immediately. This kind of power is overwhelming and one would expect anyone in this position to be a bit arrogant and demeaning. This demeanor is shown exceptionally well by the Judges at the end of the movie. Many are on Ma Ma’s payroll and corrupted Judges are aplenty. These characters act, as one would expect, prompting the audience to feel a bit of animosity towards them: aptly so, since they are part of the villainous crowd. With a plot as dramatic and intense as Dredd’s, the set must be equally astonishing. Set in a futuristic time, after bouts of radiation, Mega-City One looks drastically different than Earth in present day. Shooting in South Africa provided plenty of vast land to create the perfect set that accurately portrayed the ‘goings-on’. The set is authentic and eerie, and strangely draws you in to the point that when you leave the theater, you wonder where all of the sunlight came from. This kind of believable set makes the movie experience that much more enjoyable. â€Å"I am the law†. Potentially one of the most raw lines in the film, this is the overall theme of the Judge’s attitudes. Being a drama, the film must deliver dialogue that is as captivating as the other elements of the film. Audiences love wit, one-liners, and humor, of any variety. But, in fact, the movie is devoid of too much dialogue, giving the audience the ability to absorb the beautiful set and the extreme action shots that seem to never end. Dredd could have offered more in the way of ‘captivating dialogue’, but Karl Urban, who plays Dredd, makes up for it with the delivery, using his raspy, Clint Eastwood-like voice. Perhaps the most important part of the movie is the plot, and how the movie reacts and evolves around the plot. The natural progression of things, the speed of that progression, and the in-betweens of the plot are all extremely important in holding the audience’s attention and not boring them half to death, or leaving them in the dust, confused. Dredd’s plot is pretty simple; stay alive in a post-radiation era while trying to solve a crime and bring down a drug lord. With the wrong writer, Dredd could be very short, and very boring. However, Garland creates intensity and draws the viewer in with numerous action scenes and suspense with not knowing if they will survive or not. Wired. com calls Dredd, â€Å"a fantastic action spectacle set against the back drop of two people trying to escape hell on Earth. There are massive bombtastic fights, near-death face offs, and bro-ing out between new BFFs Anderson and Dredd. The climax is reached in due time, with an ending that, as a viewer, you can’t help but shout a little â€Å"hoo-ra† at. Dredd is strong on the dialogue and characters, but shines on the set and plot areas. An astonishing set and a plot with non-stop action make Dredd an intense film you won’t want to miss.

Losing Myself free essay sample

During English class sophomore year one classmate asked me, â€Å"Hey, no offense but are you gay?† Suddenly my stomach dropped and my face turned red. Everyone in the back of the classroom turned around to listen to my response. I didn’t know how to respond to this question. I’ve been asked before and my answer was always no. Regardless of how many times I said no, it didn’t make a difference because they never believed me. The worst part of it was that I had been telling the truth. Sophomore year I was in a new high school. Not to my surprise but to the surprise of others in the new school my first friends were girls. Rumors flew that I was gay. Everyone thought I was gay and this was not true. I promised myself that I would change my friends and that I would change everything about myself in order to stop others from believing the rumor. We will write a custom essay sample on Losing Myself or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I am definitely not like many of the other guys in my school. Walking down the hallways, one expects to see the guys on one side and the girls on the other. Guys hang out together in groups and that goes the same for the girls. I find myself more comfortable around my close girl friends. Actually, I have more friends who are girls than guy friends. Does this make me gay? I don’t think it does, but others think the opposite. To really understand why I feel more comfortable around girls, I have to go back to my childhood. Divorce plagued my family ever since I was in first grade. I lived with my mother. She has always been an independent woman and from this I gained tremendous respect for women. I feel I understand women better than most guys. Because of the connection I have with my mother there is this connection I can make with other women. I feel this special relationship with women that most men are ignorant to acknowledge. Mistakenly, I kept to my promise. I lost friends and tried to become closer to my male friends. I thought this was magically going to solve my problem. I was lonely and realized that my true friends were my girls, as they were the ones who came to talk to me about my new change. They gave me guidance and helped me realize that I lost good friends because of some lousy rumors. They helped me realize I wasn’t being true to myself. I changed who I was so others would accept me. I was characterized as someone I wasn’t, and I began to lose myself. Now I am a senior and I regret changing myself to become someone I wasn’t. I have learned that one must never change who he is in order to make people accept him. I have grown and I am content with who I am, regardless of the opinions others have on me.