Little Women Essay

• What are the characters’ emotions, attitudes, and behaviors? What do these indicate to the reader about the character?

What insights into the American Dream are offered through the novella Of Mice and Men and the film American Beauty? In your essay you must consider the influences of context and the importance of techniques in shaping meaning.

In this novel, one could say that the main character, Carrie, is ‘not like other girls’— she’s overweight, with greasy hair and uncontrolled acne. In fact, the novel notes that her excess weight resulted in part from the bullying when her description states that “she felt so miserable…the only way to fill that…hole was to eat” (King 39). She doesn’t have many friends and is the complete opposite of a ‘Cosmo Girl’. In the words of the school coach, “She [had always been] the group scapegoat” (King 21). From her description in the novel, a reader can see that in terms of gender and gender roles, she was not very “feminine”. In 1981, the Journal of Sex Research came out with a study that categorized the results of certain combinations of “low-feminine” preferences in a household could affect it. In the case of Carrie’s household, according to the study, one could characterize Carrie’s bible-thumping mother as having “low-feminine identification”, as she often took the masculine role of disciplining her child. Carrie also had “low-feminine identification”, seen by her carelessness of her appearance. The study falls parallel to the argument that women propelled their own anguish as it says that “A frustrating and rejecting mother, one who keeps her distance between herself and her daughter, may cause such weak

In David Barber’s book, he focuses on four main character types. They were known as active – positive, active – negative, passive – positive and passive – negative. These types were based off of the personalities of the first

The different roles women and men characters play in the stories are also largely influenced by the society’s views. Women are portrayed

Renowned op-ed writer Claire Cain Miller in one of her articles, "Boys and Girls, Constrained by Toys and Costumes" brings our attention to the distinction between boys and girls for choices, this difference leads to the long-term notion of gender roles in the minds of the children. Claire's article is trying to sensitize the general public against gender difference. She tries to be sentimental by pointing out that the gender war started long before we were born, thus having the presence of a gaunt definition of what is for girls and what is for boys.

When they reach puberty, girls gain massive amounts of body weight. Society thinks these weight gains are unacceptable so society tells them their changing bodies are horrible and, they need to conform to the weight regulations society demands. Young girls becoming tomboys protects them. In order for society to accept these tomboys, they must convert into “normal” in weight and how they dress. The girls who do not succumb to being “normal” females, are viewed as “rebels”.

In all works of literature (fiction and non-fiction) individuals experience certain situations, which define their character. These experiences can be self-initiated or based on factors beyond his or her control. They can also strengthen one’s character or exploit certain weaknesses. Certain situations and experiences in life can positively or negatively define an individual.

5. Are the behaviors, attitudes, and characteristics of male and female characters strongly gender stereotyped?

Through Liz Prince’s graphic novel Tomboy, she shows why the novel is a primer of gender politics. Liz Prince is a girl who is stuck in the middle on the subject of what gender she identifies with. She is a tomboy who conforms and resists the gender expectations. She has boyish preferences in regards of her attire and her hobbies. But that does not mean that Liz is not a regular human girl.

Louisa May Alcott's novel, Little Women, tries to illustrate a favorable portrait of the honourable lives that four young girls and their mother lead in their allotted roles in this patriarchal culture. The book becomes almost an instruction of how young ladies should act in order to gain respect, find husbands, and then experience happiness in their further lives. In Little Women, one of the March girls, Jo, is the most resistant to bind, this social opinion. At a very young age, Jo dislikes the restrictions put on her by being a female; "I can't get over my disappointment at not being a boy...I can only stay at home and knit like a pokey old woman" (Clark,

Characterization is a literary element used by the author to present qualities of characters in a literary piece, the purpose of characterization is to make characters credible and make them suitable for the role they play in the work. Authors present various characters possessing dissimilar qualities, to emphasize different aspects of the work. In the novel “The Scarlet Letter”, the author Nathaneil Hawthorn’s depiction of the two male characters, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth, emphasizes the moral problems of the seventeenth century puritan society. Hence, their different characters contribute vitally to the plot of the novel.

She first describes this girl as a “girlchild”(1). Her wording eliminates any ambiguity about the child by cementing the word “girl” to it; she makes it clear that the society’s distinction between genders is definite and inescapable. The speaker also adds on that the child was “born as usual,” implying that the girl is being held to society’s standards of how girls should be, even as a fresh-minded newborn (1). Instead of focusing on the beauty of birth and innocence, the focus is put upon whether or not the girl came out normal enough.

Young girls are designated and adorned in pink clothing from birth, establishing the separation from the ‘dominant’ males. Continuing on, the character is “exposed”, and it’s no surprise that she knows exactly “where she stands” in society. Girls and boys become separated in almost all aspects of society. In school, young girls are habituated into hanging out with other girls and learning a set of social norms that are carried into adulthood. Girls are not encouraged to be as aggressive or competitive as boys in either sports or academics. Girls are taught to be dainty and submissive, “knowing their place” in society. Little girls are taught play housewife, nurse, beautician, or singer, while boys play soldier, doctor, heroes, or sports affiliated activities. This seemingly innocent child’s play is teaching

behavior and a cry for the recognition of women's rights ( ). Instead its theme