Essay on Clara's Day

Initially Clara, is a proper demeanor young woman. She obeys orders and would never think of standing up to her father. As in the text “Like all the other girls I am being trained in obedience hard work a biddable spirit; all the virtues a good wife needs.(pg. 14)” This is how Clara is being brought up, she is only going to be someone's wife; nothing else. I “...her life is not enough for me that I dream instead of words, ideas a life that stretches far beyond the bonds of this shtetl (pg.14).” Clara who is still “proper” wants to live her life to the fullest. As the story evolves Clara experiences treatment she doesn't like and her spirit gets stirred.

Coming from a lonely and abusive home Mary had to find happiness outside of her house. Her mom made a friend from their church and she happened to have a three month year old baby. Mary always occupied the Richardson’s by helping with baby Alyssa, while also distracting herself from reality. Meeting the Richardson’s ended up being Mary’s worst nightmare. One night the Richardson’s went out and asked Mary and her mother to watch Alyssa.

The minister then questions her but after his unsuccessful attempt, Mother’s actions become a scandal throughout the town because “any deviation from the ordinary course of life in this quiet town was enough to stop all progress in it” (C670). This does not bother Mother and she successfully continues with her plans. By overcoming this alienation both characters achieve feminine empowerment.

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

Clara possesses two different types of loves that are portrayed very strong within this novel for; Ferula Trueba, and Pedro Segundo. The relationships for these people were not acceptable within this society. Clara’s relationship with Ferula is very strong, it is more of a friendship relationship, then it

Finally, when her husband becomes angry and starts to scolds her, she chooses to endure it. Although she knows that her job is no less valuable than her husband’s job, she does not refute him. Her choice avoids many unnecessary quarrels between her and her husband. She is the first and only person to say, “I love you.” (Gilb,360) in the entire story. She loves her husband and her family deeply. According to a research in psychology today, Barton Goldsmith mentions that “Mothers are the emotional backbones of the family.” (Goldsmith, P6) Obviously, she provides the holding place for everyone’s feelings and does her best to keep them from being and getting hurt.

Clara Barton once said " I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight I can stand and feed and nurse them", Barton is trying to say that you should never be afraid to take risks and even the smallest things can be the most important. Clara Barton was a strong woman not only that but a hero. After researching Clara Barton it is evident that she is a hero because she faced adversities, impacted others, and demonstrated heroic traits.

Clara Barton 's life began in 1821 on Christmas Day in Oxford, Massachusetts. She had five siblings and her parents were Stephen and Sarah Barton. Clara was the youngest child and was described as a shy girl. While her mother has not been described well, only for having a temper, her father was described as a possible motivator for Clara’s endeavors. Her father had been a captain during the Indian wars and was described as having a heart for the needy, a person of prominence and and viewed as a leader within the community (Bio.com). He is also said to have been a great businessman. As far as her other siblings, she two sisters and two brothers, all of which followed in their parents footsteps.

December 25th, 1821 was a special day for the Barton family, but not just because it was Christmas. On that day, a child was born: Clarissa Harlowe Barton. She not only had many talents, but she also was highly intelligent, determined while on the job, and motherly to the people she served - despite having no children. Clara is one of the most popular women nurses that worked on the Civil War battlefield and saved many lives. She even started a foundation that continues to serve people in life threatening events. Her life leading up to her fame impacted her choices, as well as other people. Today, her legacy still lives on to inspire many.

Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy. Her parents named her after the city she was born in. She was born on May 12,1980, she was raised mostly in Derbyshire England. Many people when they hear Florence Nightingale think about her as a nurse and for her fight for better hospital care. Florence did a lot more in her life than achieve better hospital conditions, and become a nurse. She was a brilliant mathematician, and used statistics to apply them to achieve her reforms. Florence was a well-educated woman in a number of fields other than math;

Cora Lee had many children. As a child she was obsessed with baby dolls. Every Christmas she would get a new baby doll. Until she was 13, when her father said she was too old. Beginning in her sophomore year of high school, she started having babies one after another. Cora Lee neglects her children as they get older since she can only take care of them while they’re babies. Kiswana catches one of Cora Lee’s children eating out of a trash can and takes him to his mom to tell on him. Kiswana then see how filthy Cora Lee’s apartment is. Kiswana offers her to come and bring the children to a play. So Cora Lee cleans her children up and they all go to the play with Kiswana. Cora Lee is touched by seeing how much her children enjoyed the play and from that day to vowed to be a better mother.

After the death of her husband, Mother struggles to keep her family together by providing the support and guidance they need, and encouraging them to use good judgment and think of the family as a whole before making their decisions. As the family faces various obstacles, each seemingly more severe than the last, Mother begins

puberty bring with it a complex tradition of restrictions and behavioral guidelines. Kincaid’s poem reveals the rigidity and complexity of the social confines the girl is expected to operate underl. A girl is an induction into the women community as well as an orientation into the act of womanhood (Walkerdine et. al.). The lectured instructions given to the silent girl child vary from the housekeeping, “this is how you sweep a whole house”, to dealing with intimate relationships, “this is how a man bullies you; …how to bully a man” to medicine, “this is how to make good medicine (to abort)” (Kincaid).The inane patriarchal society expects gender stereotypes to prevail. The mother is tasked to give her daughter instructions on how to be a good woman in the stereotyped society. The advice the mother gives to the daughter cements the gender stereotype and portrays limitations on a woman (Bailey and Carol 107).

Gwendolyn Brooks was a black poet from Kansas who wrote in the early twentieth century. She was the first black woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize. Her writings deal mostly with the black experience growing up in inner Chicago. This is the case with one of her more famous works, Maud Martha. Maud Martha is a story that illustrates the many issues that a young black girl faces while growing up in a ‘white, male driven’ society. One aspect of Martha that is strongly emphasized on the book is her low self-image and lack of self-esteem. Martha feels that she is inferior for several reasons, but it is mainly the social pressures that she faces and her own blackness that contribute to these feelings of inferiority. It is

Florence Nightingale, a well-educated nurse, was recruited along with 38 other nurses for service in a hospital called Scutari during the Crimean War in 1854 . It was Nightingale's approaches to nursing that produced amazing results. Florence Nightingale was responsible for crucial changes in hospital protocol, a new view on the capabilities and potential of women, and the creation of a model of standards that all future nurses could aspire towards.