Analysis of Barbie-Q by Sandra Cisneros Essay

In the opening, she shares her childhood encounters with women in prose with the children’s rhyme “a little girl who had a curl”. This personal anecdote introduces the topic of the portrayal of women in literature, as well as establishes a connection with her audience.

Kelley accentuates white girls in hopes that her audience will imagine their own daughters in a similar situation and feel they are to blame. Throughout the first half of her speech, Kelley uses rhetorical devices to elicit the feelings of sympathy, remorse, and pity to persuade her audience. Using extensive details, she illustrates the harsh reality of what the children go through. She expresses that tonight while they sleep “several thousand little girls will be working in textile mills, all the night through, in the deafening noise of spindles and the looms spinning and weaving cotton and wool, silks and ribbons” for the audience to buy. She intentionally mentions items of necessity and luxury to relate to the poor and wealthier people she is speaking to. She uses rhetorical stances to emphasize her point by listing all the items the children make throughout the night that her audience members have most likely previously purchased. Going into detail that “the children make [their] shoes in the shoe factories; they knit [their] stockings, [their] knitted underwear” and continues by adding that they are “little beast of burden, robbed of the school life” so they can work instead. With these rhetorical stances, she evokes the feeling of guilt within her audience. By painting this picture, she reveals the grim truth that these children are forced to live by due to the

The friends of the narrator, however, do not hide in the imaginary world of childhood and are maturing into adolescents. Sally, “ screamed if she got her stockings muddy,” felt they were too old to “ the games” (paragraph 9). Sally stayed by the curb and talked to the boys (paragraph 10).

Although the daughter’s shame in her mother is evident, she is also prideful of her as well. The strong love that the mother and daughter share is pervasive throughout the story. The story is being told by the daughter after she is all grown up. The fact that Jones uses such vivid detail on the mother’s preparation for her daughters first day of school shows that the daughter loved her mom and all that she did for her. The daughter recalls that her mother spent a lot of time preparing her when she says, “My mother has uncharacteristically spent nearly an hour on my hair that morning, plaiting and replaiting so that now my scalp tingles.” (Jones) She also remembers that her “pale green slip and underwear are new, the underwear having come three to a plastic package with a little girl on the front who appears to be dancing.” (Jones) The daughter having remembered details like these illustrate that she has an immense love and takes pride

     It is my opinion that Prager has failed in her attempts to persuade the reader that Barbie is a tool created from male fantasy or a poster child for modern feminism. If anything this essay has helped me to realize that Barbie is a combination of both worlds. She is both sexually appealing to men and someone that women can admire and even a toy that little girls can play with and hope to be like when they are older. I still remain adamantly devoted to my Barbie dolls, seeing her as neither temptress or sexually frustrated object.

In the novel Michelle journeys from a joyful innocent child into a perceptive and wiser youth. Initially we view Michelle as a child who is very compassionate, willing to “do the forfeit” for Barbara to exempt her from Skull’s cruelty. As the story progresses qualities namely courage and loyalty surface in Michelle. These two

Perhaps because they had “learned so much from life, from poverty, from their mothers and grandmothers” and because they had “been early awakened and made observant by coming at a tender age from an old country to a new” (Cather 127).  These girls show the readers how beneficial hard work and poverty can be to a person.  They were made strong because of the obstacles that they had overcome, and they were beautiful for this.  Jim is able to put their abstract pleasantness into words by equating them with poetry.  Somehow, the unique environment that these girls grew up under has made them into the poetry that they are.

At first, the attention amuses them evident by, “Down to the corner where men can’t take their eyes off of us, we must be Christmas.” However, the stroll quickly turns horrendous when they personally experience the oppression of women on Mango Street, as innocent kids. A local man shouts to them, “Them [the shoes] are dangerous, take them shoes off before I call the cops”. It is significant how a local man regards a trinket that gives the girls confidence as “dangerous”. Later, a drunken neighborhood bum attempts to buy a kiss from them. Terrified that the bum is violent and will attack them, the girls run back home, and hide the shoes in a bag. Later, Lucy’s mother throws them away, and the girls feel relieved.

The Poem “Barbie Doll (1969)” by Marge Piercy describes the life of a young girl who fell victim to society’s idea of beauty. Marge Piercy was a known social activist and uses this poem to bring attention to serious issues facing young females in society. “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy is a narrative poem; the poem is written in free verse. The author selects a free form of poetry and other devices to help get her point across.

Miss Moore finally leads the kids to the toy store. The are immediately dazzled by the toys in the windows; even declaring which ones they were gonna buy. The children seemed to know they couldn't afford the toys, but they didn't think they would be off by much. The once brave and proud and strong children were hobbled at the door, none of which wanting to go in first. Here is the point where they get slapped in the face. Here is where they first see that they do not belong here. Eventually one of them pushes through the crowd and throws herself into the gallery of toys. They go around gazing at the different objects. Miss Moore drives the point home by leading them to the fact

The selected lines from Sandra Cisneros’s “Barbie-Q” are important because they relay the idea that even though the narrators dolls had been through a fire and were purchased at the flea market, they are just as good to the narrator as the new, clean, and unburned dolls that the other richer girls purchased before the fire.

From the start the girlchild was given gifts that stained in her mind as what she was suppose to become in life. With the little dolls, GE stoves and irons, and lipstick her parents put this ideal image of the perfect woman in her head. With these types of presents the girlchild is already learning her role in society.

However, when their mother came through the door and told them of a hungry family, the 4 women did not hesitate in giving away their luscious breakfast to those in need. The children delivered the food to the family and “a poor, bare, miserable room it was, with broken windows, no fire, ragged bedclothes, a sick mother, wailing baby, and a group of pale, hungry children cuddled under one old quilt, trying to keep warm”(24). The sisters realize what a harsh environment they live in, and because the setting is so pessimistic, they try to share the little wealth they have so that everyone may live long full lives. The setting in which they live, houses many people who have even less wealth than their own family. However, because of this dreadful place, they try and make sure that their community, or their family, is taken care of, even at the expense of their luxuries.

The author of A Pair of Silk Stockings explores female roles based on what other people believe due to stereotypes. In this short story Mrs. Sommers finds $15 which is a sizable about of money to her in New York. She and her family are on the poorer side of New York. At first Mrs. Sommers has no clue on what she should do the money she had just come to. She is thinking about her children and that they could use new skirls because she had seen a beautiful new pattern in a market window, or caps for her boys and sailor-caps for her girls (Chopin 1). She thought of them due to the fact that that is what mothers and wives do in the 1800’s, they but their children and husband before thinking of themselves. She thought back to the time when she wasn’t