The time has finally arrived to say goodbye to Becoming Ms. Burton. After finishing the book, I felt like I connected more to Ms. Burton than people my own age. A part of me saw pieces of myself through Susan’s experiences, specifically the ones she had during the lower points in her life. I also saw myself in Ms. Burton, especially where she is embracing change and accepting help from others. Even though Ms. Burton and I share no explicit similarities, except our gender, her story was still is able to resonate with me on an emotional level. How did Ms. Burton accomplish this: to successfully tell her story where anyone from any cultural background, gender, and skin color can relate to her? To begin, Becoming Ms. Burton doesn’t start on chapter 1, but instead begins in the prologue; it starts at Ingrid’s story. After the prologue, the book moves from Ingrid’s story being told by Susan, to the reader being directly addressed in chapter 1 by Susan. The language switches from “I” usage to “you”, a way to engage the reader, putting them into Susan’s shoes. This is the hook that is used to grab the audiences’ attention. Once the attention is captured, the story transitions onto Susan’s life story. Even though it’s focused on Susan’s early childhood and her life prior to becoming Ms. Burton, the story itself is much more than Susan’s. There are layers, many layers, involved in Susan’s story. It can be read, by only looking at the outer, weak layer, where the reader is only
In the passage, Elizabeth Takes the Reins, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher, the author has the main character, Elizabeth Ann, presented in a sympathetic way. First, Fisher tries to make the reader feel bad for Elizabeth Ann. Second, the author shows that she feels bad for Elizabeth Ann. Lastly, she uses strong words to emphasize Elizabeth Ann’s troubles.
In contrast, by appearance of a horny sexual character, Joyce, viewers are positioned to see the danger of a woman as she rallies support which turns into a mob after she fails to proceed what she wants – sexual intercourse. However, the actions of main character, Edward, and the clothes worn him and more importantly, an awkward looks of him with scissors for hands positions the viewers to see him as a person who can't and never will fit in ordinary suburbia. Burton’s use of these characters is to convince viewer that whether conformity is good or bad, distinct individual is always to be left behind.
Her journey began in her senior year of college, when her life inadvertently shifted. She left school to become a wife, mother and an overseer of her husband’s dental office. For years, all seemed well on the outside, but privately Carrie was enduring abuse from her husband. At the age of 36, now a mother of 3, she made the crucial decision to leave, never to turn back. Her courage to step out of an abusive relationship, and pursue a life of the unknown, proved to be a pivotal moment. In the beginning, she shared feelings of fear and adrift. However, through the process of reading an exponential amount of self- help books, she regained her strength. She fell in love with everything that she was learning and began to transform into a woman with purpose. This magnetically, attracted the attention of her peers, seeking insight to her transformation. For Carrie, this ignited the inspiration to help other woman, a process she refers to as the “Domino effect”. She realized that she could support and empower other women just like herself, and unbeknownst to her this was only the
Susan Hayes was an ordinary woman, unremarkable, plain. She was a simple, predictable woman too. Each morning, the aging, unmarried woman took the B train to city hall, where she worked as a clerk. Susan Hayes spent hours holed up in the basement filing things away, and keeping the books. She completed the tedious work one boring task at a time, with nary a soul to talk to except herself. Her only reprieve from the endless drudgery of paperwork was her lunch hour, which she took promptly at twelve p.m. each day. Needless to say, she was a sad and lonely woman. Each night, when her work was done, Ms. Hayes again caught the B train home to her modest apartment.
Summary: Mrs. Karen Ehman talked about her book in the beginning. Her mom always cared for others and listened to them first. She was the one who taught love to a speaker. She thought of other people first before she took care of herself. She was a thoughtful person. When a speaker had a sad, depressed moment in her school life, her mom told her to think others who were worse than her. Everyone can experience some bad moments in their life and if we think in a positive way, this bad moment is nothing in our life. This will go away someday and we will feel better and stronger. There is another story of her life. The speaker had a friend who was not feeling well one day and they met each other in a coffee shop. The speaker could read her feeling
Joelle Fraser, being that she grew up in Susanville, is able to offer a unique view of Susanville. By implementing herself into the story, Fraser is able the breathe life into her words. Her own personal experience give life and meaning to an otherwise boring topic. By integrating her feelings on certain situations into the article, she is able to paint emotion into her article. By putting herself into the article, Fraser is able to turn a otherwise boring topic into a beautiful work or literature.
A person that had helped out my life when I was in need is my amazing grade 8 teacher I had in elementary school. A teacher named Ms.Wall. She cared deeply for my improvement in academic success. I wasn’t the best english student but after many countless times of getting level 3s on assignments she has helped a lot to achieve a level 4 in my pieces of writing in grade 8. She accepts every student like a warm hug similar to the way Wes describes Miss Tretheway in “Long Long After School”. Wes described Miss Tretheway as beautiful and naming countless times Miss Tretheway has helped her in his life. Like standing up for the biggest banks girl, helping Wes pick up Mrs. Banks wash and etc. Showing that beauty is more than looks as the narrator
As a child, I wrote constantly . From pirate ships to my school’s playground, the settings of my pieces varied, but my main character always remained the same. Jenny Rose, my young heroine, was daring and an explorer at heart. I created Jenny when I was in third grade, along with a series that centered around all of her expeditions. When I faced intimidating or troubling situations, I reacted as if I was Jenny. For years I continued to write about Jenny and her exciting encounters. And eventually, I realized that Jenny’s characteristics were quite similar to mine. Jenny was always someone I admired and wanted to be, but I eventually came to the realization that she was a reflection of who I already was. All of Jenny’s discoveries and experiences
As the Bennett women’s storylines unfold, the author gives a fitting amount of time to each, developing and intertwining them naturally. Muriel, Susanne, and Lilia are well-crafted characters with talents, flaws, solid backstories, and realistic motives. Also, the minor characters have their own challenges and add interesting, important pieces to the novel without detracting from the Bennetts. Even with all that’s happening simultaneously with the characters, major and minor, the story never feels jumbled or as if it’s idling or steering off course.
I found Susan very interesting in the play. At the beginning she is always concerned with impressing the guys, rolling her skirt to appear more attractive. Peter
Writing from the soul about one’s own life experiences can take on a much different feeling than any other style of writing. There is an intrinsic, gut-churning feel of risk within the process of telling the truth. A risk that gives a certain adrenaline rush, all while allowing one to reflect. The adventure of sharing ones own story can feel scary and relieving, both chaining and freeing. Harriet Jacobs and John Edgar Wideman undergo this while telling their stories, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Jacobs) and Our Time (Wideman). Each author is self-conscious throughout their stories. Both authors speak about a minority in their stories; Jacobs speaks of the female slave and Wideman speaks of the African-American gangster. Because
Virginia’s conversation was a completely different experience for me. One question would set her on a deep and descriptive story as I listened intently. Virginia is also my mother and we have a very close relationship making it easier for her to express her story. I had never heard many of these moments from my mother in great detail before and found myself visualizing her stories and experiences while we talked. I reflected upon how the anxiety and stress she experienced due in large part to her upbringing changed how she purposefully raised me in an entirely different way. I felt thankful, loved, and sad at the same time hearing how the structure of her childhood bred anxiety and stress in nearly every aspect of her life.
In his mind, the thought was ridiculous, why invite a man with such little knowledge in English or carols? Nevertheless, Susan convinces not only Hamadi, but also her mother and father to join. While the kids, Susan, her mother, and even Hamadi sing and exhibit Christmas spirit, Susan’s father meanders aimlessly with them; staring off at the sky, paying no notice to anything and having little notice paid to him in the story. With Susan is Tracy, who, as shown earlier in the story, has a strong attraction to a boy named Eddie. Unfortunately for Tracy, however, this feeling is not reciprocated; an experience that, as all teenagers know, is painful. While Tracy could have chosen to move on, to understand that he just isn’t the one for her, she instead chooses to wallow in her sadness, allowing it to sit in her like an anchor, holding her back from enjoying the night and the friends she is with. Susan and Hamadi both notice her sorrow and, despite him not knowing her, Hamadi allows her to cry into his coat as Susan wraps Tracy into her arms. This powerful display of kindness and patience perfectly demonstrates the loving and understanding nature of Hamadi, and of Susan, who, rather than live as a wretched, wailing person, or an empty wisp drifting through nothing, surviving, not living, chooses to be loving, kind, understanding, patient, and above all,
Before I knew it, I was sitting on a couch in a living room filled with people staring at me, and the words flowed from my mouth. I had this time-- this moment set apart-- to reveal what I thought defined the woman I was. The absence of parents, the separation from siblings, the lonely nights, the invisibility, the toxic relationship and the molestation were experiences I thought told the story of who I was. This was the story I cautiously shared.