Analysis Of ' A Woman Like Me '

Paul Newman once said, “People stay married because they want to, not because the doors are locked” (74). There is no such thing as the perfect relationship, however, being involved in a healthy relationship is essential for a person to feel valued, safe, and happy. Unfortunately, in the situation of Kelly Sundberg’s personal essay “It Will Look Like a Sunset,” and Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of An Hour,” include extreme examples of unhealthy relationships. The essay “It Will Look Like a Sunset,” shares painful experiences of Sundberg’s physical and emotional abusive relationship with her husband Caleb, while “The Story of an Hour,” shares a rare reaction of a married woman, Louise Mallard, who explores her emotions cautiously when hearing about the death of her husband. Each woman faces their own prison created by their husbands. The two marriages represent the figurative meaning of doors being locked in a marriage. Both pieces of literature convey the theme of confinement by using the literary devices of foreshadowing, imagery, and conflict.

“Why Did I Get Married?” directed and produced by Tyler Perry is a movie based on four couples who take a reunion vacation to the Colorado Mountains in order to reunite with friends from college. On this vacation things didn’t go according to plan. Throughout the movie there was heartbreak, infidelity, suppressed feelings, conflict, and secrets raging throughout each of the couples’ relationship in some aspect. With these unfortunate events occurred at various times throughout the film it cause their trip to evolve from a place to relax, enjoy friends, and time off from work into an emotional and tense atmosphere with the involved couple seeking validation from the other couples on the reason why their marriages are the way they are. Even though the movie ended on a good note in their celebration of Janet Jackson’s character (Pat) receiving an award one of the marriages did not survive. This couple’s relationship will be my focus for this paper.

Tim Wise’s film “White Like Me” is an educational documentary about racism and white privilege. The film begins with Wise’s personal story on how he learned the importance of race at a young age after attending preschool at Tennessee State University, a historically African American college. Being one of the only Caucasian students and being taught by predominantly African American administrators, allowed Wise to gain respect for African American authority figures which ultimately made a huge difference in how he came to see the world. Throughout the film, Wise expands on his personal encounters with race while incorporating interviews with scholars and candid comments from white students discussing their opinions on some heavy questions

In, Between the World and Me by: Ta-Nehisi Coates, readers are able engage in a letter that was written from a father to his son. In part two of the letter, Coates talks about two incidents in which he acted out in an aggressive way and how his actions were not safe when it came to hi ad his sons bodies. When Coates speaks about his and/or his sons body he is ultimately explaining that one wrong action could risk his and his sons’ life. There was one moment in particular when Coates spoke and physically acted out with aggression that he was not entirely proud of because he did so in front of his son. After taking his son to see the movie Howl’s Moving Castle, Coates road an escalator with his son—who was almost five years old at the time—down

Curley’s wife’s dream was to one day become a famous Hollywood actress. Fame and fortune were the two things she desired most, and having expensive clothes living in extravagant hotels. Curley’s wife had met a famous Hollywood director who had told her that she was a natural at acting. He said he would mail her a letter about becoming an actress. He never mails her back, even though he promised he would. Her dream also becomes impossible because of her marriage to Curley. Curley will not let her leave now, and she has to tend to the ranch instead of pursuing her dream to potentially become a film actress.

Women are taught from a young age that marriage is the end all be all in happiness, in the short story “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin and the drama “Poof!” by Lynn Nottage, we learn that it is not always the case. Mrs. Mallard from “The Story of an Hour” and Loureen from “Poof!” are different characteristically, story-wise, and time-wise, but share a similar plight. Two women tied down to men whom they no longer love and a life they no longer feel is theirs. Unlike widows in happy marriages Loureen and Mrs., Mallard discover newfound freedom in their respective husband’s deaths. Both stories explore stereotypical housewives who serve their husbands with un-stereotypical reactions to their husband’s deaths.

Technology is the epitome of human evolution. We are the only species we know of to have successfully developed tools, not just primitive ones, that’s been done before by other organisms. The tools I’m talking about are the ones which enhance our senses beyond their human abilities. Tools like GPS, farming equipment, calculators. These are tools that push the limits of human ability beyond what can be naturally achieved. Through these tools we can navigate the earth on a scale far beyond our ancestors, we can turn a field that would have previously taken months, and we can compute mathematics that further our understanding of our very existence. However, these tools might be taking more than they give; at least that’s what Nicholas Carr argues in his essay A Thing Like Me. In his

In the essay, "People Like us" by the author, David Brooks, the main focus is the diversity in America. The United states has a label as being a country that is very diverse. Our country has many different types of ethnic groups, religions, personalities, interest, etc. so in that case, you really can justify the United states as diverse. Brooks mostly uses logic in his essay to prove that, once you look at the United States with a more magnified view, you might realize that technicalities come into play and change the previous statement to, unfortunately, the complete opposite, a corrupt society with no diversity.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Sinclair Ross’s “The Painted Door” are both stories about women protagonists who feel emotionally isolated from their husbands, who both go by the name John. Ann in “The Painted the Door” and the wife whose name may or may not be Jane in “The Yellow Wallpaper” are women who deal with emotional isolation. Emotional isolation is a state of isolation where one may be in a relationship but still feel emotional separation. In these two stories, both women feel emotionally isolated from their husbands due to lack of communication. In both stories, lack of communication results from one individual failing to disclose their true feelings and instead he or she are beating around the bush, hoping the other party will know what they want. If both parties directly disclose their desires and feelings to one another, there would be a better understanding of each other which as a result would help save marriages. This paper will look at how both women lack communication, how they both their approach their emotional isolation differently, and how their failure to communicate to their husbands and their approach, results in the failure to save their marriage. “The Painted Door” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” are stories that show how both women protagonists are emotionally isolated due to their failure to communicate their feelings and desires to their husbands. Instead of direct communication to their husbands, the women find other

In both Judy Brady’s “I want a wife” and Rebecca Curtis’s “Twenty Grand,” the reader is given a glimpse into the lives of two families living in different worlds but sharing many similar situations. Both families in the two-story show the environment that they are living in. Through the author’s use of irony, repetition, and tone, it becomes clear that I feel more sympathy for the mother in the story “Twenty Grand”.

In Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, women are portrayed as China’s cultural feminine ideal of being demure and compliant. The novella takes place during China’s Cultural Revolution where two urban youths, Luo and the narrator find themselves sent to the countryside to be “re-educated”. The two protagonists encounter the Little Seamstress—the epitome of beauty—and fall in love. They civilize the Little Seamstress through Western literature allowing her to realize a woman’s true beauty. Although the Little Chinese Seamstress gets “re-educated”, her re-education only teaches her the true meaning of beauty, convincing her to abandon her repressive village, and declare her feminine identity by leaving the city.

In the book Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Coates writes a letter to his son and tells him the events that took place in his life. Coates tells his son about the racial stigmas that have haunted him from his childhood and some of the stigmas that are still around in a society like today. Coates does this by using recent events that have been argued over again and again by people in America. Some of the events that are in the book are shootings of African Americans by the police in areas where Coates had lived and other areas. Some of the men that were talked about throughout the book are Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and Tamir Rice. One in particular was the death of Coates’ classmate, Prince Jones, who was a polite and well

Leaving the story with a high note of rebirth, fertility, and an age of a new era will emerge. Another clue takes place in the third section of the narrative revealing the time period being in the early twentieth century before the Qing Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty of China, “the great Qing empire belongs to us” (Hsun, Lu, pg.76) the reader can infer that a sense of revolutionary attitude is being presented by the character. Why did Lu Hsun give away the time period? This phrase introduces a recurring theme along the story of informative persuasive and it gives the reader a glimpse of the characters’ perspectives. As well as it foreshadows the execution of the son of Hsia told by Uncle Kang, Confucius, who characterizes the event in a negative tone by mocking the incompetence of the youth. By characterizing the executioner as a “real scoundrel” or a “young rogue” (Hsun, Lu, pg.75) gives a pedestal between traditional Chinese values versus the revolution of modernism occurring at the time. Not only does this event showcase Lu Hsun beliefs of finding a true “spiritual” medicine but it shows the level of progression China is facing in this time period. It gives the reader a clear foundation of the cultural complex in the first section of the story. Lu Hsun utilizes pathos to achieve this message of tradition ceding progression.

As the story begins, the narrator’s relationship with her husband, John, is very trusting. Although she does not agree with his belief that isolated rest is the best thing for her, and feels that “congenial work, with excitement and change,” would be better she doesn’t act out in disdain because of the nineteenth century ideology in which the man knows what is best. However, she does at this point believe that he knows best, and feels somewhat guilty for her opinion as later she states “He is very careful and loving,” as John tries to nurse her back to health. These conflicting emotions confuse the narrator and become a cause of anxiety.

In her article Kate Chopin’s View on Death and Freedom in The Story of an Hour, Xuemei Wan proposes that Kate Chopin The Story of an Hour expresses birth and death, psychology of Mrs. Mallard, and freedom. The Story of an Hour written by the American woman writer, Kate Chopin (1851-1904) fully shows us the tremendous conflict between life and death among those women who had more self-awareness. Who had less social living space according to the established social norms 100 years ago in a dramatic way. The heroine’s strong desire for freedom and sudden death. This reminds us of the philosophical thought on life and death of Zhuangzi, ancient Chinese thinker, Martin Heidegger, which deconstruct and transcend the conflict between them, and many more. In this essay, I will be critiquing Xuemei Wen article showing the strengths, weaknesses, and notable features.