An Analysis of Annette Sanford's 'Nobody Listens When I Talk'

Sophie introduces herself in the story as a nerdy, outcasted teenage girl, “I always thought of myself as a free-floating one-celled amoeba, minding my own business. The other kids at school were all parts of a larger organism. . . Not particularly noticed, definitely not appreciated, just an amoeba swimming around aimlessly” (9). Sophie feels as if she does not belong where she grew up, she has always felt like she was on the outside. Her father, a drug dealer and felon, left her mother when she was first born. Because of her extreme self-esteem issues, Sophie blames herself for her father leaving. She recalls what she believes happened when she was born, “When Mom was a teenager, I started making her belly fat. And then my dad left. And then I was born too soon. And he came back to get us.

Deborah Tannen’s case study entitled “Can’t We Talk?” is the most relevant reading that I have ever done for any class. It relates to a problem that every person regardless of age, race or sex, will have to face many times in his or her lifetime. The problem is that men and women communicate differently and these differences can often lead to conflict. This case study is very informative because it helps to clarify the thought process of each sex. That said this reading leaves the reader somewhat unfulfilled because Tannen does not offer a solution to the problem.

Joyce Carol Oates began her short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?,” with a 15 year old girl named Connie whose mother that had always compared her to her sister June. This gave the reader a chance to establish a connection with Connie. Since almost every teenager has felt a comparison to another sibling at least once in their life, unless they were an only child, but then they were probably compared to family friend’s child. Her mother would say things like “Why don’t you keep your room clean like your sister?” or “How’ve you got your hair fixed – what the hell stinks? Hair spray? You don’t see your sister using that junk” (Oates, 1). Perhaps this is the reason that Connie has created a fantasy against the reality of the

In Miriam, by Truman Capote, amidst loneliness, Mrs. Miller becomes face to face with a young girl whose personality is the complete opposite to her own, a girl who is not afraid to ask for what she wants, while Mrs. Miller is recluse and avoids asking too much from other people. Gradually, as Miriam pushes Mrs. Miller over the edge, she begins to lose the polite, withdrawn part of herself who gives in to passivity. Realizing her faults, Mrs. Miller avoids any of her past characteristics and any qualities that remind her of Miriam. Through characterization, conflict, and tone, Truman Capote uses Miriam to reveal to the reader that self-preservation and detachment can tear a person apart, just as Mrs. Miller herself became a hollow shell of a person.

    Out of My Mind, written by Sharon Draper  is a story about Melody, an eleven year old who was born with a condition called cerebral palsy, forcing her silent and incapable to use her legs to walk, or her  hands to write. If Melody were to be given the choice of what she’d rather have, it would be the ability to speak, over ability to walk. She makes this decision because her brain can store so much information and thoughts, and it frustrates her when she can’t even tell anyone what she is thinking. Her parents try to give her a life like any normal kid, and so when she is old enough, they put her in a public elementary school. By the time she is in fifth grade, she goes to an inclusion class, with kids without disabilities her age. There she finds a way to share her thoughts with everyone, after her new friend, Rose, receives a laptop over the weekend. When Melody’s parents buy her own laptop, that is perfect for her, she can now take part in class. Most of her classmates are thrilled by how intelligent she is, but not everyone is happy about it. These people only see what is on the outside of Melody, leaving her thoughts and emotions not noticed. But this doesn’t stop her from being  the

Today it is very easy to get tethered to electronics and communications that give you instant results. A quick check on networking site is becoming the norm verses actually picking up the phone and calling the person you are catching up with. Sherry Turkle, in her essay “Can You Hear Me Now?,” discusses points and personal experiences that persuade the reader that today’s society is becoming “more connected- or more alienated”, than ever before. Turkle utilizes the pathos appeal by using the rhetorical appeals of anecdotes, assertion, and reasoning. She relies heavily on the use of pathos throughout the entire article. This is important because it gets the reader involved in the story and sets the stage for the entire article.

“Tonight while we sleep…” those little children will be busy working adult like hours, does not that upset you? Due to child labor laws in the United States in the early 20th century, children were working a great quantity of hours during the night time “while we sleep.” In the United States approximately twenty million children are working for their own food because of child labor laws. Florence Kelley, the author of this essay is disgusted by these unjust child labor laws and is empathetic towards the children,but also Kelley is ashamed of the United States rights of women. In this speech, Kelley expresses her loathe feeling towards child labor laws and emphasizes the fact that women cannot vote; in order for them to vote against them.

The short story “I Stand Here Ironing” (1961) by Tillie Olsen is a touching narration of a mother trying to understand and at the same time justifying her daughter’s conduct. Frye interprets the story as a “meditation of a mother reconstructing her daughter’s past in an attempt to express present behavior” (Frye 287). An unnamed person has brought attention and concern to her mother expressing, “‘She’s a youngster who needs help and whom I’m deeply interested in helping’” (Olsen 290). Emily is a nineteen-year-old complex girl who is atypical, both physically and in personality.

Humans need social interaction to flourish and they tend to select a few people to become closest with. They share secrets, gossip about others, and support each other in times of need, but how well can someone really know another person? In Nineteen Minutes the reader watches Josie Cormier get ready for school, hiding her private personality away for the day. “Either Josie was someone she didn’t want to be, or she was someone who nobody wanted” (Picoult 8). To all of Josie‘s classmates, friends, teachers, and even her own mother she seems like the perfect child. Josie hangs out with the right crowd, gets great grades, and follows all of society's rules perfectly, but no one really knows who she is. Behind the mask perfection Josie is just another teenager struggling with depression and identity issues. The author chooses to make the most popular girl in school also one of the most depressed to show that although things may seem beautiful on the outside, they can be rotting from the inside. Picoult is proving how that easy it is for people to hide their personalities to the world.

To begin, the protagonist of the story is Connie, is a rebellious eighteen year old blonde, who does not accept the role that her mother puts her in. The mother expects Connie to be the “nice” girl, who dresses and acts like her

Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel, Speak wields symbolism to convey the theme: recovery from mentally detrimental situations is possible if individuals communicate their feelings. Melinda feels more empowered than ever in the spring, and she finds the courage to speak up for herself. The simple action of saying no to Heather may seem insignificant to many, because of “too much sun after a Syracuse winter”(180). All winter she feels frozen, and stuck in time, even though the spring sun melts her on the outside, she is still left “raw” and incomplete on the inside. In order to fully “thaw”, she must speak to someone about her assault with confidence. When Melinda first “melted” on the outside she caught a glimpse of the bliss sensation of empowerment. With this new motivation, she will be guided to recovery. One of but bring miraculous hope to Melinda. She describes her good morale as a “strange” feeling Melinda’s biggest steps towards recovery is standing up for herself. Heather asks for her help decorating for prom, even after the evil things she said to Melinda.

Outside forces do not have any long-lasting influence on how someone perceives themself. This is a notion that some individuals may choose to believe. However, through the events of one story, we come to realize that the prior statement is false. The nameless protagonist of Boys and Girls (1964) showed that as people, we can be created as somebody other than ourselves at our core because we fall back on the opinions of people whose views we regard too highly. Canadian author Alice Munro’s short story displays how an individual’s identity and realization of self is molded by the prominent role adversity plays throughout the course of their life because the contrasting values and ideologies of those around them conflict with their own moral compass.

According to Elizabeth Lowell, “Some of us aren't meant to belong. Some of us have to turn the world upside down and shake the hell out of it until we make our own place in it.” Sometimes what every situation needs is an outsider to flip the script and create a new outlook on everything. In Shirley Jackson’s novel, “We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” the speaker, Merricat, is an outsider of society on many levels, such as mental health, gender, and that she is an upper class citizen in a poor area. Although Merricat is mentally unstable, her outsider’s perspective criticizes the social standard for women in the 1960s, indicating that social roles, marriage, and the patriarchy are not necessary aspects in life such as it is not necessary to have the same outlook on life as others.

The short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid was a bittersweet warning from a mother to her daughter. The reader is experiencing the viewpoint of the protagonist through the soliloquy of her mother’s instructions that batter her like bugs smacking the

Alice Walker once said, “No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies you the right to grow.” Due to the extreme patriarchal society based in the sixties era, women’s voices were often disregarded and silenced. In the historical novel Meridian, by Alice Walker, the main female protagonist, Meridian, struggles to comply with the harsh patriarchal systems set in place in her community, in turn, she uses her silence as a form of resistance. She has various encounters with a man named Truman, whom she is in love with, but fears she’s not good enough because of the color of her skin. She begins articulate her thoughts and acting without explanation. To replace her silenced voice, Walker uses third-person omniscient and characterization.