One of the aspects about "just kids" that I find very inserting is that even though it is a detailed memoir, the author still maintains a rather "clean" tone throughout the book. For instance, she never discusses their sexual relationship between the two of them despite all the in depth detail on everything else. Even when Patti gets the clap, she doesn’t mention that Robert has given it to her and she wants the reader to assume it. I think she did this to expand her audience as well as trying to keep their love story rather private and value its innocence. I found it amusing, because a huge part of this love story and the reason that they could not stay together as a couple was due to sexual preference reasons. This
Way, she encourages the reader to appreciate the strength of their love and how their friendship was a lot deeper than a sexual attraction.
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Smith writes about how she prepared poetry reading in New York that and she took different chances and they won her lots of attention and publication as well as a record contract. I liked reading that because it demonstrates the struggles that artists go though before they are heard and I like reading that because all these struggles are then reflected in all artists' work in different ways. Reading her story with all the detail helps me to understand her better, both as a person and an artist. The third point that got me fascinated bout the book, is the title. "Just Kids" seems like a short simple title but it feels as if there is a so much to it. I think through this title, smith is explaining that they love was ignited when they were young and naive, but it lasted and only grew stronger over the years as they got
The article “Are We Raising a Generation of Helpless Kids” by Mickey Goodman appears on the Huffington Post, an online news aggregator and blog. The author focuses on explaining that children who are allowed to make choices and decisions on their own should be a thing of the past. He also touches on the idea that children learning valuable life lessons in our generation are not getting things done. The article tells the reader that the parents of the children today should prepare their kids for failure in life, and show them how to actually succeed in life without handouts.
One such value of friendship that is demonstrated to be of major importance throughout the novel is loyalty, and how important it truly is to a friendship. Furthermore, the novel also demonstrates how vital support is as a value of friendship, and how it can both amend and create them. On top
The relationship between the two fathers and the two sons is a very important theme in this book. Because of their different backgrounds, Reb Saunders and David Malters approached raising a child from two totally different perspectives.
First and foremost, the children in the novel are presented as more perceptive and more honest than adults. Children in general tend to be portrayed as innocent in literature. Unlike adults, they don’t really know why things seem to be the way they are and don’t know from right or wrong. In this case, the author might have included these children to act like “judges” in the book. He could have also wanted to bring out some aspects of the novel using the kids.
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).
Throughout this lay, there is a sense of hope in the author's tone, almost good-natured and kind hearted. She also sets a series of sorrowful tones that creates an atmosphere for the troubles the lovers have gone through to be in the presence of each other. However, the majority of the story is the happiness and joy from the lovers finally being with one another. Toward the
In the documentary “Poor Kids” you get to truly see and feel how it is to be a child that suffers from food insecurity, poverty and the rest that comes with it. The fact that this problem exists in a developed country that you would assume it could provide for all their citizens. Well, the reality is we have many families suffering because of lack food and on top of that, we have children suffering from lack and food and more. As a society, we have grown to just be concerned about ourselves and we don’t focus on issues that affect others. We fail to see the struggles of others because it doesn’t directly impact us. We are focused on attaining wealth at all cost we would rather waste food than provide help for the ones in need. Ultimately, we are creating policies that, make sure no one gives food to the ones that needed the most. It’s a sad reality that we must face in order to continue to strive as a nation. Therefore, we need to acknowledge others and provide them with the respect that they deserve. We also have many corporations and elites that have control, power, and wealth. The stratified system in the U.S is making it that much harder for lower-income families to come out of poverty. Not only are they suffering from lack of food, lack income, and resources, but this also is affecting their pride and self-worth.
As you read not only has wording made an influence in the piece but also incorporated is a different point of view. “Boys” is introduced to us in third person offering us a long distances shot of the progress as the boys age. In an interview Rick Moody states that the third person is the mother of the boys, narrating the story in an “understated way, she is the perceiver, their mother is the center piece of the story.” (Rick Moody) Viewing the story from a higher place gives the reader a sense of intimacy with the narrator being able to perceive the lives of the characters the “boys” in a different light, the reader becomes a witness to the events in the progression of the “boys’” lives.
For example, when Alexandra finally admitted that she was lonely made me finally realize how strong she was. It takes a lot of guts and bravery to admit your true feelings. Another example is when Emil came back from Mexico and out of nowhere kissed Marie on the lips even though she was married! I never would’ve thought that was gonna happen. I was super happy when it did happen though. Even though they didn’t end up together, i’ve always liked the thought of them being a couple even though she was married. Emil seemed like a better fit for her. Frank seemed like a jerk to Marie. Emil on the other hand, seemed like the man who would take amazing care of Marie and keep her happy. He seemed like the man who would love to have a family with her. He has kept his feelings for her to himself until that very moment where it seemed perfect. He leaned over and kissed her. His love was so very strong that he couldn’t even hold it in anymore. This book is filled with many thrills and ups and downs. It helps you relate and connect with the plot and the characters and makes you understand the whole concept of knowing that being human isn’t all perfect all the time. It shows that you're going to cry sometimes. It shows how there is despair and agony in life. It helps you understand what it truly means to be
“Hell!” the operator’s cigarette moved in his lips. “We got these cases, nine or ten at night. Got so many, starting a few years ago, we had the special machines built,” is a quote from the book that shows a bit of mature language that not be okay for some children. Another quote from the book gives an example of the same thing, “I’m afraid of children my own age. They kill each other. Did it always used to be that way? My uncle says no. Six of my friends have been shot in the last year alone. Ten of them died in car wrecks.” Those are not even the worst parts of the book. I believe some components would definitely be not okay with some parents.
The book “There Are No Children Here” by Alex Kotlowitz details the challenges two young boy’s face by being raised in the inner city housing project (Henry Horner Homes). These challenges stem from racism, discrimination, the social construction of reality, social location, social class, and the deviance theory, which is due to their location and influences at which causes many youths to lead a life of crime. The book focuses on the Conflict and Symbolic Interaction theories of sociology. What is the true cause of their struggle? Is it the run down housing, lack of education, race, gangs, violence and drugs? I think that all of these play a part into their everyday
Rick Moody 's short story "Boys" is written with a distinct style. The author uses a form of a stream of consciousness to convey the purpose at hand, which encompasses writing as if without hesitation or editing - whatever came to Moody’s thoughts, he transferred to text. There was also a substantial use of the word “boys”, placing emphasis on the central meaning of the story. The style is thoroughly descriptive and fails to leave any details of the boys ' lives out. This quality donates a sense of reality and creates a bond between the reader and the characters. The tone of the story comes of as particularly unbiased and serious, as if the author were just stating purely factual information. As events become more somber in the boys ' lives, the author approaches a more sympathetic tone. The boys were supposed to be kids, fooling around playing games and living a care-free childhood, but these boys found themselves in scenarios no boy or child should ever encompass.
In her poetry, Bernadette Mayer spoke honestly about her opinions and feelings about motherhood; this was something that wasn’t commonplace at the time. It was often expected, and ingrained into women, that they were to have children and be nurturers, and Bernadette was no exception. She had children, but through her poetry, she expressed her conflicting emotions and thoughts about the way her world operates. Patti Smith, like Mayer, addresses her experiences, and shares how her pregnancy was looked down upon simply because she wasn’t married. These two women had the courage to write about what other
Finally, the characters in the selection of texts have similar mindsets, and a bad outcome from it. In the story A Ton of Fun, the boys didn’t really care if something was the right
Recently I read an article in the San Diego Union Tribune entitled "Setting Up Foster Kids for Success" by Assemblyman Brian Maienschein. The article focused on helping foster kids succeed. The article points to statistics that show around half of foster kids who stay in the system until they age out wind up in dire straights - homeless, in prison, or victimized in some way. Some even wind up dead.