Essay 'The Closing Down Of Summer'

The story of Summer, by David Updike, is set during that idyllic time in life when responsibility is the last word on anyone's mind. And yet, as with all human affairs, responsibility is an ever-present and ever-necessary aspect to life. What happens when the protagonist, Homer, loses his awareness of a certain personal responsibility to maintain self-control? Homer's actions increasingly make him act foolishly, internally and externally. Also, how does Homer return to a sense of sanity and responsibility? To a degree, I would say that he does.

Life is full of various memories that shape who we are as a person, like making your very first friend, or learning how to ride a bike. Literature retells these stories using rhetorical and literary devices to help the reader visualize the story and apply it to their own lives. In the autobiographical narrative by Gary Soto “A Summer Life” the author recreates his childhood experience of stealing a pie by using imagery, diction, repetition and Biblical allusions in his writing.

Then, the story goes to express the changes the father-in-law has experiences and how contrasting is his past with his present. He apparently is being affected by an undefined condition, which has made him change in temper and personality. During several moments, the narrator’s father-in-law presents issues of insecurity and some aggressiveness, and in others, he delights the family with the appearance of a sudden charismatic behavior. At some point, the narrator and her husband, after a brief discussion, recognize their responsibility as children to take future care of their parents. The narrator reveals at the end the acknowledge of her father-in-law permanent change in character and how much it affects them. Jen’s central idea relates how there is a cyclical change in family roles and responsibilities between sons and elder parents that naturally repeats itself. It also suggests that when issues are presented, the duties can be overwhelming for the new

In “A Summer Life” Soto is the name of a six-year-old boy who faces a decision between sinning and not fulfilling his sweet tooth desires. This all started when Soto became bored and thought the only way to cure his boredom was through sin. Though Soto knows that sinning is iniquitous he ends up going against all of his religious beliefs and greedily taking the pie for his own longing to eat something sweet. Shortly after, Soto knows stealing the pie was wrong and regrets his decision. In “A Summer Life” Soto shifts from greedy to guilty by using striking imagery, potent ethos, and biblical illusions to recreate his story.

One Fat Summer by Robert Lipsyte, is a very good book for teenagers that feel insecure about themselves and have low self-esteem. In the book they will read about a young boy name, Bobby who overcomes his fears of being fat and being bullied by Willie, one that is much stronger then him physically, but not emotionally. The basic theme of this story is to stand up for yourself no matter the situation.

In a year like 2017, there are many times when nostalgia kicks in for anyone of any age. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, nostalgia is defined as “a feeling of pleasure and sometimes slight sadness at the same time as you think about things that happened in the past” (Cambridge). Though the poems “The Summer I Was Sixteen” by Geraldine Connolly and “To My Mother” by Wendell Berry don’t seem similar in any way, they both use different poetic devices to get a nostalgic tone across the writing. Both of these poems are centered around a speaker who is reflecting on their past experiences when they were younger, so they express some type of happiness when looking back on them.

Around the world people have been arguing and bickering about elementary-school-age children having adult supervision. Children around those ages have no boundaries and don’t know what to do when left alone, but once summer break starts parents are overwhelmed with work and taking care of the children so they tend to think about having any supervision. In the article “A Tale of Two Summers for Parents” by Belinda Luscombe address the issue of adult supervision and how kids get very aggravating and the adults tend to lose their mind because of so much stress. Although parents tend to have stress when taking care of their young child, they can lose the young child that meant so dearly to them. There should be adult supervision at a young age as long as the parent has scheduling to take care of the child or have someone they trust care for them.

Have you ever been betrayed by someone that you trusted? “The Summer People”, a fairy tale short story written by the author Kelly Link, portrayed the characters in a way that be can be greatly related. Throughout the story, she used several literary elements, such as symbols, allusions, and dictions to help the readers to understand the moral of the story. The main character, Fran, was bonded with the faith to be the caretaker of the summer people, and there is no possible way that she can escape from them. Despite the kindness of her friend, Ophelia, Fran decided to use her to gain freedom from the summer people. Ophelia has always been truthful to Fran, even though Fran bullies her during the beginning of the story. At the end, Ophelia was betrayed by Fran and forced to take over her responsibilities of the summer people. In an e-mail interview conducted by Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts with Kelly Link by the editor, Brian Attebery, explained the style of her writing. Link stated, “The primary goals of fiction — whether it’s fantasy or realism or whatever — are to entertain, to raise or answer question, to unsettle or to comfort, to communicate. The tool set changes. The goal varies too, and that’s independent of genre” (qtd. In Attebery 414). The statement from Link gives the readers that why she decided to write stories like The Summer People, which can be greatly related to realism, because it’s important to understand thing aren’t always going to turn

Kids can be  cruel when they are envious as shown in the short story, “All Summer In A Day,” by Ray Bradbury. The sun is what makes Margot happy, and when that gets taken away from her. In this short story there is several acts of cruelty to Margot by her classmates. These kids live in the planet of Venus, and they haven’t seen the sun in seven years, except for Margot. The kids are only nine years old so they haven’t seen the sun since they were two years old, but Margot moved there from Earth when she was four and she remembers the sun and that makes the other kids envious. In the beginning of the story it is the day that the sun is supposed to come out for the first time in seven years! The kids were skeptical except for Margot because she wanted to see it so bad. The kids were starting to prepare for the sun to come out but they were sitting inside waiting. While they were waiting the kids decided to lock Margot in a closet and not let her out. When the sun came out all the kids ran outside to play in the sun that felt so warm and nice on their skin, except for Margot, who was sitting inside in the dark closet. When the kids came back inside they felt sorry for leaving Margot in there. Envy can lead people to commit awful acts and cause shame as demonstrated throughout the character's actions in, “All Summer In A Day.”

“It has been raining for seven years; thousands upon thousands of days compounded and filled from one end to the other with rain, with the drum and gush of water, with the sweet crystal fall of showers and the concussion of storms so heavy they were tidal waves come over the islands.” (Bradbury, 1954) In the dystopian story, “All Summer In A Day” by Ray Bradbury, it takes place on the planet, Venus. A group of children, along with scientists get to live there, while being educated at the underground school. Margot, who is only 9 years old, wasn't born on Venus like the other children, but instead on Earth. She’s the only one who remembers how the sun felt through her skin and how beautiful it shined. On the contrary, the other children are jealous of her because she has some memory of the sun, while they don’t. Jealousy caused the children to harass, isolate, and make her depressed.

It all began in the middle of fourth grade. I was a little girl that thought that I was the coolest kid in school. I went to a great private school and had the greatest, weirdest, craziest, and most insane friends. My favorite thing about them was that around each other, we could all be ourselves. We were open about all our thoughts and weren’t afraid to say them out loud, because we knew that we wouldn’t judge each other. Everything was perfect ,but you know what they say it’s the calm before the storm.

500 days of summer is a story where a boy meets a girl, he falls in love with her yet she does not truly love him. The movie shows the progression of the relationship of Tom and Summer. It begins when they first meet when Summer begins working as a secretary where Tom works and progresses to them casually dating. Summer is obviously hesitant and against relationships yet Tom is overly eager to find the perfect girl. The story ultimately shows the demise and after effects of their relationship. At first thought anyone could think this is the typical love story where the movie casually progresses to them living happily ever after. This is not that kind of fairy tale love story.

"Ready ?" "Ready." "Now ?" "Soon." "Do the scientists really know? Will it happen today, will it ?" "Look, look; see for yourself !" The children pressed to each other like so many roses, so many weeds, intermixed, peering out for a look at the hidden sun. It rained. It had been raining for seven years; thousands upon thousands of days compounded and filled from one end to the other with rain, with the drum and gush of water, with the sweet crystal fall of showers and the concussion of storms so heavy they were tidal waves come over the islands. A thousand forests had been crushed under the rain and grown up a thousand times to be crushed again. And this was the way life was forever on the planet Venus, and this was the schoolroom of the children of the rocket men and women who had come to a raining world to set up civilization and live out their lives. "It’s stopping, it’s stopping !" "Yes, yes !" Margot stood apart from them, from these children who could ever remember a time when there wasn’t rain and rain and rain. They were all nine years old, and if there had been a day, seven years ago, when the sun came out for an hour and showed its face to the stunned world, they could not recall. Sometimes, at night, she heard them stir, in remembrance, and she knew they were dreaming and remembering gold or a yellow crayon or a coin large enough to buy the world with.

It was the first of June. The sun was shining brightly and there was the flavor of joy, happiness, and vacations in the air. I breathed it and truly felt how my body overwhelmed with the freedom and desire to move the mountains in the pursuit of great vacations. I planned my summer holidays during the whole year, and I knew for sure that it had to be a marvelous time spent with friends, ocean, sunshine, fresh fruits, and disco parties. My mother has changed everything that day. She decided that charity was the best thing, which I could do in summer, and enrolled me to the special program, aimed at attending the elderly homes and assisting senior people there.

It was the first of June. The sun was shining brightly and there was the flavor of joy, happiness, and vacations in the air. I breathed it and truly felt how my body overwhelmed with the freedom and desire to move the mountains in the pursuit of great vacations. I planned my summer holidays during the whole year, and I knew for sure that it had to be a marvelous time spent with friends, ocean, sunshine, fresh fruits, and disco parties. My mother has changed everything that day. She decided that charity was the best thing, which I could do in the summer, and enrolled me to the special program, aimed at attending the elderly homes and assisting senior people there.