How I Learned To Drive Play Analysis

In John Patrick Shanley’s “Doubt”, a priest is accused by a nun of raping the first African American boy of St. Nicholas, a Catholic Church and school in the Bronx, New York. This parable is placed in the year of 1964. Therefore, when Shanley writes the African American young boy is—per Sister Aloysius—raped, it is only to make the boy an easy target because of the time period and the social events that took place around that time. In “Doubt”, Sister Aloysius becomes suspicious and warns another nun to be aware of her surroundings, which causes suspicion of a priest, Father Flynn, raping a young boy, Donald Muller. Sister Aloysius then confronts Father Flynn, and eventually causes him to leave the church. At the end of the play, Sister James and Sister Aloysius are conversing and Sister Aloysius admits to doubting he done the action. Sister Aloysius is quick to accuse Father Flynn of being involved inappropriately with Donald because she is not comfortable with affection toward students.

“My Father’s Prostitute” by Steven Whitacre, is an honest and chilling book about an innocent boy’s struggle from child to adulthood. When reading this book, I found myself completely shocked and interested at the same time. It was different to read a book from the authors life and I think that is what made it that much more interesting. “My Father’s Prostitute” is a book about a child’s struggle, that leads into adulthood. When Steven was about four years old, something had happened that would change his life forever. After his dad suggested to “play”, Steven was sexually abused by his own father. Thinking this was normal, Steven kept on

Anderson’s story contains a four-page description of the events that led to Melinda, the main characters, rape scene. These four pages were enough for Scroggin and Swier to challenge this novel in its entirety and hide it from students, hindering their horizons of literature.

“In men, in general, sexual desire is inherent and spontaneous” whereas “in the other sex, the desire is dormant, if not non-existent, till excited” (457). Greg’s terminology is extremely power-laden. “Spontaneous” has the connotation of energy and activity, whereas “dormant” and “victim” imply inactivity. An important concept is the assumption that men, the “coarser sex,” act on women, the “weaker sex” (457).

“The Boys in the Band”, is a play about male homosexual relationships and the revealing truths of being gay in the 1960s. The play gives audiences a distinct perspective of homosexuality on the stage up until that time. The setting is in a New York City apartment that is owned by Michael. He and his gay friends are preparing a birthday party for Harold. Alan McCarthy, a former college roommate of Michael, also shows up at the party unexpectedly. In this paper, we will focus on Alan and Harold and their behaviors and impacts in the play.

The short story Hands by Sherwood Anderson is one of the twenty-two stories in the book Winesburg, Ohio. This story specifically focuses on the psychological trauma of a teacher after being falsely accused of molesting his male students. This alone brings up the topics of homosexuality and sex, which was considered scandalous at the time it was published in 1919.Although this is true, it did not stop the public from finding this piece of literature as fascinating. In Hands, Anderson’s form of symbolism, narration, and themes are what make this piece modern and unique.

All three versions of “The Demon Lover has the same common messages: to be careful in trust, be careful of the vows you make, and that the decisions of the young often come back around negatively. All three pieces exemplify these messages heavily. Of all of the works maintaining these themes, Elizabeth Bowen’s “The Demon Lover” displays these messages the most vehemently. Bowen’s version of “The Demon Lover” take on the principles of Harris’ “The Demon Lover” and makes the ideals more noticeable to the novice reader.

“Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty.” Based upon a few indirect details and various intuition, the ultra-strict, Sister Aloysius Beauvier believes that one of the priests, Father Flynn, at the St. Nicholas Catholic Church and School has been molesting a twelve-year-old boy named Donald Muller, the school 's only African American student. To help her, Sister Aloysius recruits a young and naive nun, Sister James, to assist her in monitoring the suspicious yet charismatic Father Flynn. She also addresses her concerns to Donald 's mother, who surprisingly is not horrified or even shocked by the allegations. She is more concerned about her son getting through high school and avoiding a beating from his dad instead of what her son is going through at school. Close to the ending of the play

Sexual transgression and sexual exploration is one of the most highly talked about topics in today’s society. The path to sexual liberation within society begins with experimentation and exploration, followed by personal acceptance, and finally, although not always, societal acceptance. Although we have come a long way on the path of acceptance of different sexual transgressions, the stories of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Tennessee Williams’ “Vieux Carre,” and Lyle Saxon’s “The Centaur Plays Croquet” show that this type of acceptance has not always been the case. Each story plays an integral role when looking at the steps on the path to societal acceptance. Chopin 's story dives deep into the area of experimentation and exploration, whereas Saxon 's story looks more at the areas of personal acceptance, and Williams ' story lies more along the area of societal acceptance, and whether or not acceptance is always the end result.

Susan Glaspell’s one-act play, Trifles, weaves a tale of an intriguing murder investigation to determine who did it. Mrs. Wright is suspected of strangling her husband to death. During the investigation the sheriff and squad of detectives are clueless and unable to find any evidence or motive to directly tie Mrs. Wright to the murder. They are baffled as to how he was strangled by a rope while they were supposedly asleep side by side. Glaspell artfully explores gender differences between men and women and the roles they each fulfill in society by focusing on their physicality, their methods of communication and vital to the plot of the play, their powers of observation. In simple terms, the play suggests that men tend to be assertive,

Sexuality and personal growth has and always will be a topic of conversation in real life and even in fiction short stories. The idea of sexuality has just recently not only became an open idea to discuss but one to also write and publish about. Both Alice Munro and John Updike both illustrate the idea of sexuality and personal growth in very different ways. “The Found Boat” by Alice Munro, deals with sexuality in an aggressive manner while “A&P” by John Updike, deals more with the idea of sexuality rather than sexuality itself. They also have very similar elements of fiction that include (but is not limited to) characters, theme and conflict. The characters relate in both

Often joked or laughed about, the sexual exploitations of young men are often seen as a right of passage. A young man’s first experience maybe with an older woman and such encounters have been portrayed in American music, movies and glamorized in American pornography. There are those who will argue that the type of sexual relationship Lafave had with her student was wrong and disgusting, but there is also a gender bias for

In Paula Vogel’s “How I Learned to Drive”, we follow our protagonist nicknamed “Lil Bit” on a gut wrenching, and downright disturbing journey through her adolescence, told as a series of narrations, monologues, and flashbacks with the occasional interjection of a PSA like voice over. The play recounts the physical and emotional abuse Lil Bit encountered from the ages of eleven to eighteen at the hands of her uncle Peck, while he teaches her to drive.

Sexuality has an inherent connection to human nature. Yet, even in regards to something so natural, societies throughout times have imposed expectations and gender roles upon it. Ultimately, these come to oppress women, and confine them within the limits that the world has set for them. However, society is constantly evolving, and within the past 200 years, the role of women has changed. These changes in society can be seen within the intricacies of literature in each era. Specifically, through analyzing The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, one can observe the dynamics of society in regards to the role of women through the lens of the theme of sexuality. In both novels, the confinement and oppression of women can be visibly seen as a result of these gender roles. Yet, from the time The Scarlet Letter was published to the time The Bell Jar was written, the place of women in society ultimately changed as well. Hence when evaluating the gender roles that are derived from sexuality, the difference between the portrayals of women’s oppression in each novel becomes apparent, and shows how the subjugation of women has evolved. The guiding question of this investigation is to what extent does the theme of sexuality reflect the expectations for women in society at the time each novel was written. The essay will explore how the literary elements that form each novel demonstrate each author’s independent vision which questions the

Lynn Nottage’s play, “Ruined”, is an eye-opening story that takes place in the Democratic Republic of Congo during the Civil War. The play is centered around women who have been sexually abused, and are living and working in a brothel owned by the protagonist Mama Nadi. The play gives deep insight to the hardships women had to go through during that time. The play is a melodrama and a great example of a contemporary version of realism. This play also illustrates three important characteristics of storytelling we discussed in class: stories teach, stories allow us to personalize issues, and stories build compassion.