Amanda Palmer's The Art Of Asking

Even though she was at her house, she still hurried to get to school for the feeling of satisfaction and safety instead of staying at her house which is filled with fear and discomfort. Barry uses the main character’s actions to convey that the narrator only feels comfort when she is at school and that she always urges to be there. Secondly, in the passage that follows, Lynda Barry writes the narrator’s thoughts to show that just the sighting of someone’s safe haven can relieve panic. “ All I knew was a feeling of panic, like the panic that strikes kids when they realize they are lost. That feeling eased the moment I turned the corner and saw the dark outline of my school at the top of the hill” (Barry 1). The quotes conveys that just when the protagonist sees the outline of her school the feeling of discomfort simply disappears. The narrator’s mind finally went calm, as shown through the thoughts that went through her head. Thirdly, in the next excerpt, the author uses first person narrative to express the thinking of the central figure of narrative. “It’s only thinking about it now, 28 years later, that

The friends of the narrator, however, do not hide in the imaginary world of childhood and are maturing into adolescents. Sally, “ screamed if she got her stockings muddy,” felt they were too old to “ the games” (paragraph 9). Sally stayed by the curb and talked to the boys (paragraph 10).

Shortly after the passage above, there is another change in the mental state of the narrator. She begins to show symptoms of paranoia, another classic sign of schizophrenia. Speaking of how glad she is that her baby does not have to stay in the room with the yellow wallpaper, the narrator says "Of course I never mention it to them any more— I am too wise,— but I keep watch of it all the same" (Gilman 430). She again shows her mistrust of the people who are caring for her when she says "The fact is I am getting a little afraid of John. He seems very queer sometimes, and even Jennie has an inexplicable look" (Gilman 431). At one point she catches Jennie looking at the yellow wallpaper. She says "I know she was studying that pattern, and I am determined that nobody shall find it out but myself!" (Gilman 432). This kind of paranoia is a solid indicator that the narrator's psychological state is deteriorating towards schizophrenia.

Throughout the novel, A House in the Sky, by Amanda Lindhout, the audience can identify the theme of emotion versus logic. Within the novel, the main character Amanda makes a lot of life changing decisions, which are based more towards her emotions than logic itself. This strongly impacts not only her life, but also those close to her. Amanda Lindhout’s A House in the Sky is an exemplary depiction of the ideas of feminist criticism, new historicism, and moral criticism. Although Lindhout describes the consequences that come from her decisions throughout the novel, she also stresses the aggravation that comes with being female. The novel, A House in the Sky, portrays the complications of female development and identity through the main character.

A main theme of this book, is the importance of living in the present, instead of dwelling on the past. Many of the characters in this novel carried a nostalgic perspective on life, and it influenced their attitude towards the present. It was very common for the characters to tell stories from their past. Jim often relates incidents in the present, to things that happened to him in the past. Jim is not the only one focusing on the past, however. For example, Peter, one of the Russian immigrants, has a very romanticized idea of the past, which causes him to have a depressed attitude towards the present. Jim observed this on one particular meeting, “Once, while [Peter] was looking at Ántonia, he sighed and told us that if he had stayed at home in Russia perhaps by this time he would have had a pretty daughter of his own to cook and keep house for him.” Peter allowed the idea of ‘what if I had...’ to interfere with his future. Because of the adults "what if" attitude, the teens of this novel have a sense of urgency in their lives. They witness how nostalgic the adults, and they themselves, are becoming, and come to a realization. The good days are the first to pass, and the most fleeting. Jim takes this as an excuse to be nostalgic on the past, a past he was not even there to witness. He looked at the wilderness of his new home, and fantasized about how wonderful it’s past was, “Beyond the pond, on the slope that climbed to the cornfield, there was, faintly marked in the grass, a great circle where the Indians used to ride. Jake and Otto were sure that when they galloped round that ring the Indians tortured prisoners, bound to a stake in the centre; but grandfather thought they merely ran races or trained horses there. […] The old figure stirred me as it had never done before.” Jim looks at the past with wonderment - it is a place that was much more ideal than his present. Unlike him,

In the book Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen, Susanna Kaysen was only 18 years old when she agreed to enter a medium security psychiatric facility in Boston, McLean hospital in April 1967, after a failed suicide attempt. She insisted that her over dose on aspirin was not a suicide attempt, but after a 20 minute interview the doctor decided she needed to be admitted to a hospital. During her prolonged two-year stay at the hospital Kaysen describes the issues that most of the patients in her ward have to deal with and how they all differently deal with the amount of time they must stay in the hospital for. While in the hospital Kaysen experienced a case of depersonalization where she tried to pull the skin of her hands to see if there were bones underneath, after a failed escape attempt. Soon, after going to therapy and analysis she was labeled as having recovered from borderline personality disorder. After her release she realizes that McLean Hospital provided patients with more freedom than the outside world, by being free responsibility of parental pressure, free from school and job responsibilities, and being free from the “social norms” that society comes up with. Ultimately, being in captivity gave the patients more freedom then in society and created a safe environment in which patients wanted to stay in.

On page 268, she shows a drawing of her younger self holding the school saying "I'm home!" This supports a form of pathos that she uses, it makes the reader see how she felt about the school. On the next page, she continues her essay with more generosity the teachers showed her. She also gives a point of view from her older self saying "It's only thinking about it now, 28 years later, that I realize I was crying for relief." She then continues, by defining one teacher (Mrs.LeSane) above the

p. 82). Therefore, the adult narrator’s ability to comment and reflect on his child-self effectively emphasizes the naïve and vulnerable nature of youth, and contributes to the mood of foreboding and suspense throughout the novel, ‘now I was over confident. I expected things to go my way’ (Chapter 1. p. 28).

Generally, when innocence is thought of, the first speculation recalled to one’s mind is the thought of pureness and the idea that the specific individual is free from moral wrong. On the other end of the spectrum is the term known as guilt. Guilt is the emotional notion in which one feels that they have compromised his or her own standards in a negative way. In the novel Sarah’s Key, Sarah frequently proves to struggle with both guilt and innocence. These specific themes are put on display when Sarah realizes she is not going back home, the scenario in which Sarah boards the cattle car to the camps, and the tragic event in which Sarah takes her own life.

The first example of the children losing their innocence is when they are describing the transition from elementary school to junior high school. Each has found that instead of one teacher, they in fact had many teachers. Additionally, the girls they were once friends with, now different in size and grace, ignored them. This becomes apparent that things have change as a result of age.

Childhood is arguably the most exciting time of a person’s life. One has few responsibilities or cares, and the smallest events can seem monumentally thrilling. Often, people reflect on the memories of their youth with fondness and appreciation for the lessons they learned. Sarah Orne Jewett captures this essence perfectly in the excerpt from “A White Heron.” Jewett uses many literary devices, including diction, imagery, narrative pace, and point of view to immerse the reader in familiar feelings of nostalgia and wonder, and dramatize the plot.

As the trip progresses, the children reveal themselves as funny, spoiled brats. O'Connor's desire to illustrate the lost respect for the family and elders among the young is quite apparent in her illustrations of the children. One evidently notices another foreshadowing image when the family

The child seems to address the reader and says, “You tell me it’s too early to be looking back, but that is because you have forgotten the perfect simplicity of being one and the beautiful complexity introduced by two” (76). The child goes on to list more magnificent experiences he had as a younger child. With these lines Collins masterfully predicts what the reader must be feeling. The reader is doubtful at first that this boy is old enough to be thinking about this, but as the stanza carries on they begin to realize he has a point. Collins reminds the reader of possible memories they have and proves that what this child is feeling is valid. The boy goes on to proclaim, “It is time to say goodbye to my imaginary friends, time to turn the first big number. Collins suggests that an active and free roaming imagination must be let go as one grows older. Again he targets the readers past experiences and reminds them that growing up can be a really sad thing. The reader is also reminded of the fun childhood they lost. It is clear to see that adults who have forgotten their past are the targeted audience as the poem reminds them of old times and causes them to remember lost memories of growing

The first speech I choose to watch is titled ‘The Art of Asking” by Amanda Palmer. At first glance, due to her drawn-on eyebrows and short messy hairstyle, most people would have immediately pushed judgment on her. But, Palmer proves everyone wrong. As Palmer reveals later in the speech, she is a part of the band Grand Theft Orchestra. Through a very powerful story, Palmer persuades her audience; we shouldn 't fight the fact that digital content is easy to access and music should be freely shared by everyone. She goes on to suggest that artists can and should be directly supported by fans.

This topic is the most highlighted one throughout the story. All of the children were deprived from everything they had; the world they lived in, the people they knew, and the memories of all of those things. To clarify, the main character Thomas states that “his memory loss was baffling in its complexity” (Dashner 44). Each boy in the Glade was full of knowledge, but no origin of it. Conversely, society today has not experienced much loss in self identity, but the idea of it is one of the most chilling concepts to ponder. By means of social commentary, Dashner demonstrates this exact concept of one’s loss of self