Analysis Of Coming Of Age By Angelia Bobson

Reading coming of age stories are always interesting and at times nastolgic. Coming of age stories typically include a young protagonist forced to make a grown decision which is a transition to their first move into adulthood. In a sense, these stories show the protagonist shifting from innocence to gaining experiences. The two coming of age stories that we read in class were “A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett and “The Man Who Was Almost A Man” by Richard Wright. Both being coming of age stories, they have similar features but were different in the sense that one protagonist seemed to have made a shift into adulthood whereas one did not.

Various novels can be classified as “coming-of-age” texts, this means that these are stories about a protagonist’s transition from childhood to adulthood or just growing up even as an adult. These novels show their growth and change in character over the length of the text. Novels such as The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston are all examples of coming-of-age novels. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God the story is focused on Janie Crawford and her growth over the course of the book.

     Childhood is a time where children learn about the world around themselves. They see and experience many factors that influence their everyday lives, which help them grow stronger when they become adults. In 'Girl'; by Jamaica Kincaid and 'The Lesson'; by Toni Cade Bambara the characters within the stories learn valuable lesson with help them grow to become better individuals. In 'The Lesson'; the character of Sugar undergoes a realization that society does not treat everyone equally, that not every individual has the same opportunity and equality that they should have. In 'Girl'; the main character learns that she must be perceived as a woman and not as a slut, her mother brings to her

One of the symbols mentioned in the very beginning of the novel is the red balloon. On Bobby’s 16th birthday, Nia brought him a red balloon and she told him that she was pregnant. The balloon represents Nia giving away her innocence to Bobby and giving up on what on they had. It symbolizes that she can’t go through the pregnancy on her own. Also, red can symbolize love, hurt, and help. “I’ll never forget that look and how her voice shook when she said, Bobby, I’ve got something to tell you” (Johnson 6). This shows how Nia is scared to have a baby because she is only a teenager and she is scared to tell her family.

Coming of age is an influential part of many people’s lives. They begin to leave behind their innocent childhood views and develop a more realistic view on the world around them as they step forward into adulthood. (Need to add transition) Many authors have a coming of age theme in their books; specifically, Harper Lee portrays a coming of age theme in his book To Kill A Mockingbird. Through the journeys of their childhoods, Jem and Scout lose their innocence while experiencing their coming of age moment, making them realize how unfair Maycomb really is.

“Moody, Anne. Coming of Age in Mississippi. New York: Dial, 1968. Print.” Anne Moody was a determined, educated, and an inspiring civil rights activist who was born in Gloster, Mississippi. Born on September 15th, 1940-passed away February 5th, 2015 Anne Moody dedicated her life to making the United States a better place for not only African American’s, but pleaded for equality amongst all races as well. Awarded best book of the year in 1969 by the National Library Association, Anne Moody writes her autobiography “Coming of Age in Mississippi” is an effort to inform her readers about her journey throughout life as an adolescent living in the rural grounds of Gloster, Mississippi, to her times of adulthood working as a subsequent civil rights activist in New York. Anne Moody shares with us the chilling details on why she became a civil rights activist and growing up as a colored female during a time of racial segregation, and humiliation; Along with many other personal experiences, such as losing her childhood friend, and living in a one parent home that puts an intense strain amongst her family’s’ poverty.

In coming of age stories, the protagonists often experience a pensive and dramatic moment where either they break through to adulthood or retreat to childhood - it is this moment that unveils the magnitude of growing up for the reader.

If society was asked what defines “coming of age,” what would it say? Some would say people come of age when they act more mature, think grown up thoughts, or do certain actions. This quote by someone unknown helps form an explanation of what coming of age is: “Maturity doesn’t mean age; it means sensitivity, manners, and how you react.” In the literature piece “The First Part Last,” the author Angela Johnson writes about two teenagers, Bobby and Nia, who struggle with the difficulties of teen pregnancy. Throughout the book, they both face many hardships that put their relationship, patience, and responsibility to the test. With the help of a red balloon, a basketball, and family pictures in a doctor’s office, Bobby comes of age after paying attention to these symbols and signs throughout the novel.

I’m going to be proving in this essay if Bobby, the main character in the novel, the First Part Last by Angela Johnson, actually “came of age” and also explore the symbols related. The “coming of age” theme doesn’t have to be what you interpret from reading the story. I will be going to go into depth into this particular theme. Bobby is 18 years old and lives with his separated parents, Mary and Fred. Nia is Bobby’s girlfriend, who is about the same age as her boyfriend. Most of the influential characters are African American according to what is implied and stated in the story. Other more minor but still important characters I’ll be also discussing are Nia’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. wilkins, paul, one of Bobby’s siblings,and Bobby’s best friends K-boy and J.L.

Anne Moody is the author of Coming of Age in Mississippi which was originally published in 1968. Anne Moody is a famous African American Mississippi author who was born in Wilkinson County, Mississippi on September 15, 1940. She was the eldest of nine children born to Fred and Elnire Moody. While growing up in Mississippi, Moody attended a segregated school where she was an outstanding scholar. Moody cleaned houses in order to keep food on the table and clothes on her family members’ backs. In 1961, Moody earned scholarship in basketball to Natchez Junior College where she was involved in sit-ins, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to fight for civil rights for blacks in the south. Upon her completion at Natchez Junior College, she went to Tougaloo College where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in 1964. Moody continued her civil rights activities North at Cornell University where she served as a civil rights project coordinator from 1964 to 1965. Moody joined all of these civil rights groups partially because of the lynching of Emmitt Till. Moody’s literature includes Coming of Age in Mississippi, Mr. Death: Four Stories and Famous People Stories: 4th Grade Reading Level. Moody’s books have helped people understand what life was like in the segregated South before and during the civil rights movement. Moody recently passed away on February 5, 2015 at the age of 74.

In the Jim Crow South, Anne Moody lived her life trying to overcome the challenges of living in a racist society. In her autobiography, Coming of Age in Mississippi, she details her intimate experiences as a young African American woman facing the challenges of growing up in the Jim Crow South during the mid-twentieth century. This autobiography is divided into four, chronological sections: childhood, high school, college, and the Movement. In the first section of the book, Moody recollects her life living in extreme poverty and battling racial distinctions at a young age.

In First Part Last once Nia finds out she is pregnant she goes to Bobby and hands him a red balloon. This balloon that is being handed to him could mean many different things, the day she handed him the balloon it was his birthday. But that is not what it was meant to symbolize. The red part of the balloon alone has many meanings red symbolizes love, urgency, blood, violence, or death. A balloon also will fly up in the sky and go away just how there childhood will once they have the baby because because they will have a bigger responsibility to handle than rather being a child. So, the balloon represents childhood and love for when Nia has the

In this whole poem, the poet uses four “personal pronouns”, which are “his wife, his children, himself and other people” to describe what his life looks like and how he tries to survive and lives in his own world. In the real world, no matter what happened, there should be many connections between families to chat, talk and communicate. However, the poet- James Dickey uses his words and written power to explain this kind of relationship or connection does not work for him very well.

I thought this was important because, in the story it kinda came out of nowhere and it meant something. Nia was waiting for Bobby at the end of the stairwell with the red balloon, no one knew what it symbolized at first, that's why it was so important. She then handed Bobby the balloon and he knew that it meant something was about to change. Later on he found out the balloon symbolized Nia's pregnancy.

Adolescentes have many new things to learn before they become adults. Coming of age stories help the reader understand the hardships that this time in one's life may have. These hardships help develop the young into an adult. In the following stories the authors utilize selected detail to convey the development into adulthood.