Analysis Of ' The Eyes Of A Naive Young Girl ' By Zz Packer

The Lost Boy, written by Dave Pelzer is a heartwarming story of a young nine-year-old boy, David, who has family issues and is constantly being abused by his mother. Dave Pelzer is a New York Times Bestseller and a #1 International Bestseller. He has written other books such as A Child Called “It”, My Story, and A Man Named Dave, etc. This is my first story read by this author however, I will read more of his work in the near future. The genre of this book I would say is self-help, psychology and inspirational because it sends out such a strong statement of what this young boy and probably many other children are dealing with, in other words, it helps raise awareness. I myself did not imagine to be reading this type of book since I’m more

In the short story “Brownies,” author ZZ Packer uses the narrator, Laurel, to explore the tensions that exist between belonging to a community and maintaining individuality. While away at camp with her brownie troop, she finds herself torn between achieving group inclusion and sustaining her own individualism. Although the events of the short story occur at Camp Crescendo, Packer is able to expand (and parallel) this struggle for identity beyond the camp’s walls and into the racially segregated society that both the girls and their families come from. Packer is exploring how an individual’s inherent need for group inclusion consequently fuels segregation and prejudice against those outside the group across various social and societal

To Kill a Mockingbird is a witty and well-written account of the realities of a “tired old town” (4) where there was “nothing to buy and nothing to buy it with” (4). Purposefully, it comes across not merely an innocently portrayed, yet eye-opening, story of a young girl start to grasp the inequalities of her society. Rather, it is accompanied by recollection of the unfortunate pillars of hate of the places Harper Lee matured in. We now perceive this account as an ‘archaic” and “ancient” recount of some historically frowned upon mindsets in an enthralling atmosphere upon which we pin historical quantities of prejudice, racism and most of all, bigotry. The unfortunate reality is that we look at history in a vacuum and ignore the occurrences of our own times. So although we, like Scout’s teachers teaching about the horrible acts of the Holocaust while being outspokenly racist, are able to analyze social inequalities in other places in time or the world yet refuse to open our eyes to the same prejudice, racism and bigotry today. To instance, when reading To Kill a Mockingbird , we often frown upon citizens for judging “folks” based on their family name and race, although, everyday, some member of our current society, such as police officers and employers, do the same thing and no one bats an eye. Alternatively, the issue which we definitely desperately desire to avoid, racism, is explicitly tackled in To Kill a Mockingbird to the point of viral awareness of the problem in

However, she quickly began to realize that the racial-ideology espoused by white southerners was used as a means to oppress and subordinate the African American community. Although many blacks were content to accept discrimination, segregation, and disenfranchisement as the norm, Anne (from this moment on) refused to conform to her status as an “inferior.” Rather, she constantly questioned and criticized the treatment of African Americans, even as a young child. For example, she mentally chastised Raymond’s family for refusing to acknowledge her mother at church (pg. 61) and she refused to conform to Mrs. Burke unreasonable household rules (pg. 122). Ultimately, at this young age, Anne knew intuitively that the racial status quo in the south was morally wrong and unjust. In many ways, this awareness contributed to Anne’s tireless commitment to the cause of desegregation and racial equality later in

Race and gender are two facets that inherently dominate individuals everyday lives. A person’s social environment, work environment, and educational environment is congruent to their race and gender. From birth, it has been set up that everyone is assigned to a label. A pink or blue blanket is swaddled around a newborn child and a box is checked signifying that child’s place in society. These two actions ultimately define how a child is to be viewed and treated. As children grow into young adults they either decide to stick with their original assignment, while others decide to deviate from it. These individuals deviation results in many of them being viewed harshly and looked down upon because they strayed from their social norms. This constant cycle of being classified and labeled from birth is the social institution of gender and race. These social institutions aid in the inequality that is present in society, and race and gender are shaped by this. However, if these social institutions were removed, race and gender could dissipate. This is due to the fact that race and gender are not real, but are socially constructed concepts used to organize the power, or dominance, within our society to one social group over the other groups.

My pre-adolescent years were spent in a community thick with diversity. My friendships were as diverse as the environment in which I lived. It never struck me that racial and ethnic ideals separated people in society. However, upon moving to a predominately white upper-class community I began to question such racial and ethnic ideas. From my adolescent years through today I began noticing that certain people are viewed differently for reasons relating to race and ethnicity. As a result, the most recent community I grew up in has kept me sheltered from aspects of society. As a product of a community where majorities existed, I found myself unexposed to the full understanding of race and ethnicity. Prior to the class I had never fully dealt with issues of race or ethnicity, as a result I wondered why they would be of any importance in my life.

When you live in the suburbs of Atlanta, it was easy to forget about whites. Whites were like those pigeons: real and existing, but rarely seen or thought about…everyone had seen white girls and their mother coo-coing over dresses; everyone had gone to downtown library and seen white businessmen swish by importantly, wrists flexed in front of them to check the time as though they would change from Clark Kent into Superman…those images were a fleeing as cards shuffled in a deck, where as the ten white girls behind us were real and memorable (179).

In her book “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” , Beverly Daniel Tatum, explores the identity of racial development in the United States. She analyzes the definition of racism as well as the development of racial identity. Along with these topics she in turn offers possible solutions to racial problems that plague us today.

In her essay “Throwing Like a Girl,” Iris Marion Young examines why women move differently than do men. She discusses the apparent observable differences in bodily comportment, physical engagement with things, ways of using the body in performing tasks, and bodily self-image of feminine existence. Young makes the argument that the differences between men and women are not caused by a mysterious “essence” or by any biological or anatomical limitation, but, rather, we are socialized into “being” in our bodily space by the situation surrounding our existence.

Racism and racial stereotypes have existed throughout human history. The radical belief associated by thinking the skin color, language, or a person’s nationality is the reason that someone is one way or another has become extremely detrimental to society. Throughout human existence it has sparked tension between groups of people and ultimately influenced wars and even caused slavery. Racism in America dates back to when Native Americans were often attacked, relocated, and assimilated into European culture. Since then, racism within the states has grown to include various other cultures as well. In the essays by Brent Staples, Bharati Mukherjee, and Manuel Munoz, they discuss the various causes as well as the effects that racial stereotyping can place on a victim and the stigma it leaves behind for the society to witness.

In Anderson and Collins’, chapter on “Why race, class, and gender still maters” encourage readers to think about the world in their framework of race, class, and gender. They argued that even though society has change and there is a wide range of diversity; race, class and gender still matters. Anderson and Collins stated, “Race, class, and gender matter because they remain the foundation for system of power and inequality that, despite our nation’s diversity, continue to be among the most significant social facts of peoples lives.” (Anderson and Collins, 2010) When I was a little girl, I never knew that people were classified in to groups such as race, class, gender. I knew there were people that had a different color of skin than

The "White Haze" podcast from Ira Glass, who is an American public radio personality and the host, producer of the radio and television show "This American Life", with Zoe Chace conducted an investigation about the Charlottesville march. The main idea of this podcast is to introduce what really happened in Charlottesville and what led people to take a part in this march. Moreover, how good intention of "Proud Boys" were changed from "no-wanks" to "alt-right" and "Neo-Nazism". Zoe Chace made a series of interviews with key figures who played a major role in the Charlottesville march.

In this single story, there was no possibility of Africans being similar to her in any way, no possibility of feelings more complex than pity, no possibility of a connection as human equals.” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie didn’t stand a chance. Coming from Africa her roommate just assumed the worst. Categorizing her into a group that puts her dignity down as a first impression. Quick assumptions like this, with a single-minded story, is very common in this generation. Similarly, Tanzina Vega portrays a point in her article about the stereotyping of African American girls in the United States school system. She wrote, “Compared with black boys, who are disciplined at higher rates than boys of other races and ethnicities, researchers say black girls tend to be penalized more subjectively, like for having a bad attitude or being defiant.” Including this into the article is important because research has shown that come trouble, African American girls will accept a punishment from someone who sees their race and gender as defiant or unsophisticated. While in a situation where the top dog in charge racial stereotypes not much will change their opinions or decisions. Relating this to the United States’ recent presidential else, Donald Trump may have a single belief on many different nationalities and cultures. Sadly, the lack of productivity and chaos in the city 's show out for that mindset. Tanzina

Race inequalities and social hierarchy has always been a problem. Black equality activists such as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Nelson Mandela, are all part of the reason as to why, an equal world no longer is an absurd dream. Just a few decades ago, not only was the idea of white-black equality laughed at by many, but the treatment of many coloured human beings, was similar to the treatment given to animals. However, as kids who played among and with different skin-toned kids grew up, more and more questions arose. The kids didn’t judge from the skin-colour or a family’s social status, the kids judged personalities. All of this, can be seen in the short story “The Journey to The Brothers’ farm” written by the author Pippa

W.E.B. Du Bois was one of the many African Americans who struggled through a life of inequality. He fought against this lack of equality, but it was not fully accepted until much past his time. Today, African Americans are considered equal, have the right to vote and are full citizens of the United States, however, during Du Bois’ era, whites were appalled at the thought of being treated equal with “something not human”. Du Bois fought for blacks’ rights as “co-workers in the kingdom of culture” and the importance of recognizing the color line the whites refused to pardon with. This color line has influenced the mindsets of the African Americans and established the idea of double consciousness; they must act as if they fit in, even though they know they don’t, to appear more valuable and accepted by society. The Brownies’ Book includes children’s stories, such as “The Boy’s Answer”, “The Jury” and “Gyp: A Fairy Story”, that all heavily portray the double consciousness that minorities had to learn and use in their everyday encounters because of the color line.