The book I chose to read for this assignment was Expecting Adam, authored by Martha Beck, which is based on a true story written in 1999. Martha and John Beck are a young couple living in Cambridge, Massachusetts pursing their doctoral degrees. Martha writes the book from when their daughter, Katie, is a toddler (18 months old) and they are expecting their second child, Adam. She tells about the nine months from conception to the birth of her child, Adam, who has Down syndrome and her life changing values and experiences.
The couple is driven to excel, work hard, and are eager to become everything Harvard wants them to be. They are both successful and highly intelligent people. Katie, their toddler daughter, was traded off from one to the other several times a day while Martha and John balanced classes, dissertations, and teaching duties. John took on a consulting job, which required him to constantly commute to Asia (Beck, 1999).
Martha learns she is pregnant and realizes she wants the baby. Even though it is not the right time for another child, the Beck’s become skeptical about their lives being changed. Several mystical experiences challenge the couple throughout the book as they continue their journey with expecting Adam. Martha is only 25-year-old and is urged to have amniocentesis when a blood test indicates there is a 1 in 895 chance her fetus has Down syndrome. She is pro-choice and is faced with pressure to think about abortion even before
The book starts with Louise and Thomas a couple who has one child, a son, Bruce. When Bruce is three, he gets German measles or rubella. After finding this out, Louise discovers that, she is pregnant with their second child. When Louise took Bruce to the doctor to get all of the information on the measles, the doctor was worried about Louise’s pregnancy, even thought she was not very far along. The doctor said that being around someone with these measles could possibly cause congenital defects for the baby. Of course, upon hearing this, Thomas and Louise went through a very worrisome and anxious nine months until the baby was born.
In the book “The Memory Keeper's Daughter” by Kim Edwards a doctor and his wife have twins and the first child is a healthy boy but then the second child that comes out is a little girl with the signs of down syndrome and he asks his Nurse to take the baby away to an institution while he tells his wife the baby girl died. Through out the entire book it is a struggle for Dr. Henry's wife Norah to have closure with the fact that her baby girl is said to be dead and she never saw her, held her, or cared for her. Kim Edwards shows through the whole book that we are only human, the themes that life is beyond our control and through the connection between suffering and joy.
Throughout human existence, mankind has had to overcome difficult obstacles in order to prosper. In Diane Glancy’s “Pushing the Bear”, the reader discovers how the Cherokee Indians overcome their hardships and flourish into a new, thriving community. In this novel, the audience observe how these Cherokee Indians outlast the harsh environment during the Indian Removal Act. Additionally, Glancy creates a human experience during the Trail of Tears; giving a different perspective of various characters. Through the eyes of characters such as Maritole and Knobowtee, the reader is able to sense the desperation that the Cherokee endured. The upheaval of being forcefully removed from the land stripped the Cherokee of their identity. This disruption left the Cherokee confused, causing frustration to arise because they were unable to live their familiar roles. Men were no longer able to farm. Women had a loss of property and wealth. The bear symbolizes these struggles throughout this novel. Maritole explains, “The bear had once been a person. But he was not conscious of the consciousness he was given. His darkness was greed and self-centeredness. It was part of myself, too. It was part of the human being” (183). In other words, the “bear” is the personal dilemma each character is put up against during this removal. Furthermore, each character has their own personal struggles to overcome; whether that be Knobowtee’s loss of masculinity or Maritole’s loss of family. These struggles,
The biggest person vs. person issue in this story is between Jenny (daughter/main protagonist) and the Martha(Jenny’s Mother). We first see the conflict between them arise when Jenny is surprised to hear that they are moving “But why didn’t Mom or Dad tell me?”(pg.17) and later while eating dinner at home with her family, she says
Although gender is a socially constructed idea, it is often suggested to be a natural phenomenon. Society plays an important role in reinforcing gender roles in a way that disguises itself as natural, and is thus accepted without question. The United States’ gender system emphasizes gender hierarchy and a binary system that forces individuals to conform. In order to progress gender equality, it is important to denaturalize these social constructions of gender.
Humans have come to a conclusion that all lives are different, but all go through many hardships and tragedies. The impact from a slight difference can vary to be very vast to very small, such a slight difference, however, can change a person’s life as a whole. In the book, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore there is a difference that can be identified between the author’s life and that of the other Wes. This difference, though can be very critical and is ultimately able to lead to a path of triumph or failure for an individual. The lack of involvement a mother has for their child can fundamentally deprive them from succeeding, and parent involvement has the opportunity to
Leslie Marmon Silko’s novel, Ceremony, reveals how the crossing of cultures was feared, ridiculed, and shunned in various Native American tribes. The fear of change is a common and overwhelming fear everyone faces at some point in their life. The fear of the unknown, the fear of letting go, and the fear of forgetting all play a part in why people struggle with change. In Ceremony the crossing of cultures creates “half-breeds,” usually bringing disgrace to their family’s name. In Jodi Lundgren’s discourse, “Being a Half-breed”, is about how a girl who struggles with understanding what cultural group she fits into since she is a “half-breed.” Elizabeth Evasdaughter’s essay, “Leslie Marmon Silko’s “Ceremony”: Healing Ethnic Hatred by
Even though boys were the last thing Emmy had on her mind she decided that she would. They fell for each other right from the start. After months of being inseparable Emmy finds out that she is pregnant. When she finally gets her nerves up to tell Art, he denies that it is his baby. When Emmy is three months pregnant on Thanksgiving, Art told her that they should maybe not be together anymore. Emmy has to drop out of high school and go to a teen mother's school, completely devastated her. She had an eight year plan and was in the Project Hope Program that would pay for her schooling and everything. Emmy has no one to help her--her mother is an alcoholic, the guy she thought loved her only cared about himself, and her friends became ashamed of her. The only one Emmy had now is her baby Rosie, but Rosie really just had her. She will not give up because of one obstacle in her path. Even though it will be hard to go on with her plans, Emmy is determined to succeed. (15)
Gandhi once said, “I have also seen children successfully surmounting the effects of an evil inheritance. That is due to purity being an inherent attribute of the soul”.
Young people live life by the day. The process of self discovery begins as a teenager. For some, this could take years. For others, it could happen quickly. Sometimes hardship leads people towards self-discovery. In the book Ordinary People, by Judith Guest, Conrad struggles with his identity; in the past, Conrad was never able to do anything without his brother’s influence. Once his brother drowns, Conrad feels lost without him. In the beginning, middle and end of the book, Conrad goes through the stages of grief, and through this process, Conrad discovers his identity.
Throughout her youth, Sarah Osborn struggled with emotional distress and feelings of guilt. However, after the start of the Great Awakening, her entire mind-set was changed. After the Enlightenment challenged a lot of religious ideas in Europe, the Great Awakening brought new life to religion in the colonies since the influence of religion started to decreased. Then in the 1730s-1740s when clergymen started giving intense and emotional sermons, it revived interests. Osborn had a new outlet through which she was able to relieve all of the emotional distress she felt. In this passage, Gilbert Tennent, a pietistic Protestant evangelist, came to her and preached about repentance in order to have an inner change and a newness to life. At the time,
The poem “The Mother” written by Gwendolyn Brooks in 1945, is a poem that focuses on the immeasurable losses a woman experiences after having an abortion. The poems free verse style has a mournful tone that captures the vast emotions a mother goes through trying to cope with the choices she has made. The author writes each stanza of the poem using a different style, and point of view, with subtle metaphors to express the speaker’s deep struggle as she copes with her abortions. The poem begins with, “Abortions will not let you forget” (Brooks 1), the first line of the poem uses personification to capture your attention. The title of the poem has the reader’s mindset centered around motherhood, but the author’s expertise with the opening line, immediately shifts your view to the actual theme of the poem. In this first line the speaker is telling you directly, you will never forget having an abortion. Brooks utilizes the speaker of the poem, to convey that this mother is pleading for forgiveness from the children she chose not to have.
IV. What is the main problem Breyer describes in Breaking the Vicious Circle concerning United States policy making? What causes it and how does the problem develop? How does it affect business? What solution does Breyer propose? Describe another plausible solution. Which of the two solutions, Breyer’s of that you just described do you consider morally preferable and why? What ethical theory discussed in class best supports your position? Critically assess this theory by contrast with other ethical theories discussed in class.
Max Beckmann The Beginning (Fig.1) is an oil painting on canvas that measures 69x125-1/2 in. First titled "Childhood," the paintings meaning was based on Beckmann 's dreams and his past. He combined these into a dreamlike realm with an addition of imagination to create a relatable fairytale sequence. Using oil, brush and bright colors, he created three panels separated by bold white space. The left and right panel are the same size, unlike the middle which is much larger and contains more detail and various meanings. The three panels contained sex, innocence, and adolescence. Beckmann’s primary focus appears to be the various changes of a boy evolving into a man through a bizarre reality with imagery from his dreams.
Adam and Eve were the first man and woman to ever be created by God’s image. In the story of Adam and Eve is to believe that God created two human beings to live in a Paradise on earth, called the Garden of Eden, although they had fell from that state it said to be in history that they began humanity, and the loss of innocence.