For my discussion post, I choose the poem “My Son the Man”, composed by author Sharon Olds. In the poem the mother is reflecting on her son’s life. I believe that author Olds is having a difficult time coping with the fact, that her son is no longer “mommy’s little boy” anymore. Through this difficult time, she is reflecting on the physically changes and “mommy moments” that her and her son went through together. I can personally compare myself with this poem, with my mother and I. The statement “we have no control over time”, comes into play when dealing with moments in our life that fly by. Throughout my life, my mother and I have always shared a very close relationship with one another. About two years ago, we have become closer than ever.
Having similar passions can create family bonds and rituals that can be passed down generations. In From Father, with Love by Doris Kearns Goodwin, her and her father share a bond through their love of baseball, and this bond makes Goodwin nostalgic towards the end of the passage. She reveals the passion she had with her father through memories and subsequent bonds she developed with her friends and children. When her father dies, the significant connection between them is lost as she then becomes ambivalent towards baseball and despondent. Eventually Goodwin gets back into baseball and finds bonds with other women who share her similar passion of enjoying baseball.
What is stopping us from living in the moment? In “All My Babies Are Gone Now”, Anna Quindlen, the author of this passage, wishes she had taken in all the wholesomeness of raising her kids. By reflecting on her parenting years, Quindlen realizes that raising her kids is not something she could have learned from many books on early childhood development, but more so through trial and error. The author conveys her perspective on parenthood that a parent should enjoy the little moments in their kids' childhood rather than always trying to get to the next thing through stylistic devices such as flashbacks and conflicts. The way the author figured out her perspective on parenthood was by looking back and taking in the flashbacks of everything she missed when raising her kids.
Teenage rebellion is typically portrayed in stories, films, and other genres as a testosterone-based phenomenon. There is an overplayed need for one to acknowledge a boy’s rebellion against his father, his life direction, the “system,” in an effort to become a man, or rather an adult. However, rarely is the female addressed in such a scenario. What happens when little girls grow up? Do they rebel? Do they, in a sudden overpowering rush of estrogen, deny what has been taught to them from birth and shed their former youthful façades? Do they turn on their mothers? In Sharon Olds’ poem, “The Possessive,” the reader is finally introduced to the female version of the popular coming-of-age theme as a simple
While many leaders in politics, business, science, and education strive for change, there still persists a deep divide between male and female roles in the workplace and in society. This gap begins in childhood as demonstrated in Sharon Olds’ (b. 1942) “The One Girl at the Boys’ Party” (1984). This poem describes a young girl who attends a swimming party where she is the only female guest. It relies on science and math imagery to contrast the boys’ physicality with the girl’s intellectual ability, and to juxtapose her physical features with the boys’ features. This figurative language creates a distinction to challenge the disparity between male and female roles and their separation in social life, which begins at a young age. Olds’ use of science and math imagery serves as an extended metaphor for the juxtaposition between the one girl at the party and the other guests, which represents the social divide between the genders.
The poem “My Son the Man” is a short poem written by Sharon Olds. Using allusion and simile Sharon tells about a mom watching her son mature, growing and escaping her grasp. The mother expresses sadness as she reflects on her maturing son watching him grow into a man; comparing it the magician Houdini performing his mesmerizing challenging escapes.
Lois lowry Son. Claire is a 14 year old birthmother. On her first pregnancy there were complications and the doctors have to deliver by c-sections. In the book son by lois lowry Claire uses point of view, tone, and imagery to make people think that they should sacrifice anything and everything to make their dreams come true.The author uses point of view to showcase the affection the mother makes for her son. the community that claire lives in if you are a birthmother you can not have a relationship why your child once the child is born they are sent to their designated family. “i know that i shouldn’t love him, and i know that he will get taken from me” ( lowry 20)
Poetry is like a song without music, it has the ability to awaken your emotions and the ability to tell stories that can paint beautiful, relatable, imagery in the viewer’s mind. Upon reading the poem, “My Son the Man” by Sharon Olds, she presents a unique view on her bittersweet experience of watching her son gravitate towards manhood, “Suddenly his shoulders get a lot wider” (line1), while realizing he is astute enough to escape his mother’s strong hold, “to learn the way out” (line 16). As a mother myself, I began to recognize how I can relate to the speaker’s challenges of understanding a child’s need to test limits and break free from dependency. I realized through the speaker’s obvious allusions to Houdini expressing the need to break free, the contrast used to convey the indirect references to Houdini, and the similes used to express emotion toward reflecting back on a time of innocence, accepting the need of a maturing child’s independence proves the strength of a mother’s love.
The relationship between law enforcement and prosecutors, which goes hand-in-hand, can’t be overlooked. Evidence of a crime that detectives and law enforcement discover is as equally important as a good trial on part of the prosecution. If detectives aren’t able to find good solid evidence – that case usually isn’t bothered in being pursued. Several years ago, in the late 80’s, there was a murder case in Southeastern Oklahoma which now serves as a tragic example to the need for honest, constitutional work in the criminal justice system. Disreputable investigative procedures, fraudulent sources, and bad evidence were the foundation of this case that shattered innocent lives.
In Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard To Find, one is struck by the unexpected violence at the end of the story. However, if you re-read the story a second time, you will see definite signs that foreshadow the grotesque ending. The story begins with the typical nuclear family being challenged by the grandmother who doesn't want to take the vacation to Florida. She has read about a crazed killer by the name of the Misfit who is on the run heading for Florida. Unfortunately, she is ignored by every member of the family except for the little girl, June Star, who can read the grandmother like an open book. The fact that she admonishes Bailey, her son, of this Misfit
The text “Mother any distance” by Simon Armitage is about a child and his mother. As the poem goes on we see the nature change of the mother and child’s relationship grow. As the son gets older and becomes more independent he wants to leave the birds nest. But the mother doesn’t want to fully let go of her child. As the reader of his poem I was placed into the poem as I am a teenager and can relate back to this poem personally. Being a teenager and having that parent and child relationship helped me as the reader to see the issues created by Simon Armitage. The main issues I saw in this poem is that whatever actions either of them do will affect the other person. The author Simon uses a range of techniques to help show the reader the issue/message in this poem. As well as the way, he structured the poem creates a meaning towards the reader.
In 1953, Flannery O'Connor published her famous short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” In this story, a family of four members is the Grandmother, Bailey, the children's mother, John Wesley, June Star and the baby. The family is on their way for the vacation after the Grandmother complaints about going to Tennessee instead of Florida; the Grandmother mistakenly brings the family to a dirt road by lying about a secret panel house (the house is actually in Tennessee, not Georgia). A car accident happens, unfortunately, they get help from the Misfit and are shot by the Misfit.
The poem “My Mother’s Face” by Brenda Serotte depicts the difficulty of a mother and daughter with a close bond trying to cope with a difficult situation of becoming an adult. “My Mother’s face” talks about the women’s state of affairs, the words used in the poem indicate that the mother is going through a difficult situation and the speaker can feel it through her close observation and on her own accord. The poem basically highlights the human aging process and the difficulty for a mother to realize the fact that her beloved daughter doesn’t need her anymore. The daughter sees the mother’s reflection and passes it for her own, feeling empathetic to the sorrow being shown on her mother's face. The daughter now realizes that with time,
In the play True West the Mother and Old Man play as though own caricatures of the New West and the Old West. The reason i see the Mother and Old Man as caricatures is do to their rather exaggerated characteristics to what they represent, for example take the Old Man; an old poor man who lives out in the desert wasting his money away on alcohol and who knows what. He is almost an example of a cheesy Western; An old man with no teeth and drunk at the bar. Austin and Lee also see him in vastly different lights. Austin has great disdain for his Old Man, he see him as a lost case. “He's not gonna' change.” and “Let's leave the old man out of it.” is the way Austin views him, and when you add the idea that the Old Man is a caricature of the Old
Family, for the authors, has always been a source of drawing stories. Representation of family has been a speciality of Dickens. His interest in the family is pervasive in most of his works. The title Dombey and Son (Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail and for Exportation) itself suggests a familial plot in the novel along with tinges of commerce. However, the idea of ‘family’ is challenged here.
In Native Son, Wright suggests man instinctively oppresses other beings in order to satisfy his own desires. This instinctive oppression manifests itself through white-black and black-animal interactions. Jan instinctively oppress Bigger, meanwhile Bigger and his family instinctively oppress rats.