Ian 's ' Shattered '

Ian is a goal-oriented teenager regardless of the absence of his parents throughout his life. He has trouble in high school and eventually drops out due to his dream of being in the army. Even though Ian’s parents were absent for most of his life, Fiona has attempted to take the mother role. Lip has been the big brother attempting to positively influence him. Ian compares himself to Lip quite often especially

As a child, Jeannette’s sense of wonder and curiosity in the world undermine the need for money. During her young adult years, a new wave of insecurity associated with her poor past infects her. Finally, as an experienced and aged woman, Jeannette finds joy and nostalgia in cherishing her poverty- stricken past. It must be noted that no story goes without a couple twists and turns, especiallydefinitely not Jeannette Walls’. The fact of the matter is that growing up in poverty effectively craftsed, and transformsed her into the person she becomeshas become. While statistics and research show that living in poverty can be detrimental to a child’s self-esteem, Jeannette Walls encourages children living in poverty to have ownership over their temporary situation, and never to feel inferior because of past or present socio-economic

Imagine: A young boy scavenges for food to provide for his impoverished family which was composed of his ill mother and starving siblings or a homeless, single mom desperatley seeking for shelter. These synopses from "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt and "The Street" by Ann Petry share a common theme: perseverance through hardships. In "Angela's Ashes," a memoir by Frank McCourt, he stells about the harships he endured through his childhood, such as, struggling to assist his family in the midst of poverty by stealing food to provide for them. Futhermore, in "The Street," a novel by Ann Petry, tells the story of young Lutie Johnson, a homeless single mom who is seeking shelter for herself and her children. In these two excerpts, the authors use the characters, settings, and events to develop the theme, which I've identified as perseverance through hardships.

Isolation can be the determining factor in changing one’s mindset. In Ethan Frome, Ethan faces many disappointments throughout the novel. In the novel, Ethan is an orphan since both parents have passed. His wife Zeena who is also his cousin has become the dominant one in the relationship taking over full control. While living in Starkfield, Zeena has suddenly become “sick” and is forced to bring in her cousin Mattie for help around the house. Zeena is depicted as a bitter prematurely old woman who is always “sick” while Mattie is the picture of health as well as the sweetest woman alive. When Mattie comes into the picture, she becomes the speck of happiness in which Ethan longs for but Zeena keeps taking away. This brings up a theme of failure throughout the novel.

Sammy and Sarty are two protagonists that have to mature beyond normal circumstances and experience the “real world” at tender ages. Each character is forced to grow up and refine themselves in their darkest hour. Sammy and Sarty are both dissatisfied with their authority figures; however, the time periods in which they live take place in different

The feeling of being judged for the experiences an individual faces can be detrimental to the person 's personality by that these experiences result in you trying to become someone you are not so that you hide what society feels is your flaw, your race. Starr lives in two completely separate worlds, Garden Heights and the area surrounding Williamson High School. These two worlds hinders Starr’s ability to voice her opinions and thoughts about anything because in both of these areas there is this fear of overstepping boundaries. Overstepping boundaries in either area causes an individual to become threatened, for example, in Garden Heights, Starr silences herself whenever she is around gang members because she is frightened that the gang members will harm both her and her family for her opinions. Starr silences herself when she is at Williamson High School, especially since she is one out of the few African Americans that attends there, because her opinion is outnumbered by the majority of the population who are either ignorant about the issues that affects Starr’s race or cares less to even hear issues that occurs to others beside them.

The novel opens, twenty years later, in Starkfield with The Narrator who develops the desire to know all about Ethan Frome’s past life. His curiosity gets him bits and pieces from the locals, but Ethan Frome remained mysterious. Due to a horrendous blizzard, The Narrator is given the opportunity to live in Ethan’s past and answer all of his questions. The reader starts off with the knowledge of Ethan Frome’s younger life. He desired to become an engineer ,but while pursuing his dreams, his father passes away and his mother becomes very ill. During that winter, Ethan hires Zeena, his cousin, to take care of his mother because he realized that it was too much for him to do on his own. When his mother passes away, he suffers from isolophobia, the fear of isolation, and decides to marry Zeena. The reader is made aware that the environment is cold representing a sense of isolation from the outside world. The Narrator finally learns about the “smash-up”(Wharton 1) according to the locals, that threw away all of Ethan Frome’s chances of escaping prison, also known as life.

In the story “A Separate Piece’ the second main character was Finny. Finny attended Devon a boarding school. Finny was very outgoing, intelligent, very handsome, great athlete. Finny was able to get along with everyone loved him and always wanted to be around him. Everything he did everyone else did too. Such as when he started a new club “the super suicide society”. He did anything he wanted or felt like doing. Whenever he didn’t like anything he would change things or just start something

A trait that stands out in the book is the symptom of bodily memories. In Melinda’s case, during a frog dissection in her science class, she remembers the opening up and even says, “She doesn’t say a word. She is already dead. A scream starts in my gut – I can feel the cut, smell the dirt, feel the leaves in my hair.” (81). One of the other symptoms that Melinda has is self-harm. The first time that this is shown in the book, Melinda says this, “I open up a paper clip and scratch it across the inside of my left wrist. Pitiful. If a suicide attempt is a cry for help, then what is this? A whimper, a peep?” (87). Melinda also has a hard time talking to her parents about the rape to which she says, “How can I talk to them about that night? How can I start?” (72). Some victims recover from such a traumatic experience, while others don’t and live a lifetime of depression and must undergo intense therapy. In Melinda’s case, she finds redemption by talking to her parents and the guidance counselor, and putting her faith into her teachers, friends, and her art project at school. Because rape can affect anybody anywhere, everyone should be aware of the circumstances, and how to deal with it.

The book shattered has so many different elements that make it difficult for me to see the ending. I do, however, have a few different guesses. Shattered talks about many different issues including homelessness and the Rwanda genocide. This book does not exactly have a happy, light-hearted tone and even though I want it to have a happy ending, it is hard to envision that. I am worried in some ways that Jack will die on the streets in the end of the book, which is incredibly sad, but through his death, he will be freed of the demons that haunt his mind and the pain he has endured. His death would trigger Ian to want to do more and help people like Jack find a way to heal and help others like him. Ian would, in fact, find his true calling.

The Importance Of Communication In The Family In families communication is one of the most important parts in having a good relationship within the family. Communication is not only about talking, but about listening and understanding what the other person has to say. In Lac Su’s memoir I Love You's Are For White People, he talks about how he and his family escapes from the communist in Vietnam, and how in 1979, they immigrated to America to find the “ American Dream.” Lac shares certain parts of his life, and how he handled those situations.

Bad boy: a Memoir by Walter Dean Myers is about racism, isolation, and value of education. Racism changes Walter thoughts in the story. In the book walters family gets isolated from each other. The value of education changes dramatically for walter when he gets older. In the book it states that walter was unaware of racial differences when he was young. Walter didn’t know that he was committing a racial act. As a kid him and his friends tried to hang a boy there age. At that time Walter didn’t know what he was doing. He still wasn’t aware of racial problems during the time he was a kid. Walters dad gets isolated from the family after his brothers death. Walters dad becomes depressed and isolated after what happens, Walters dad brother was

The impoverished conditions in which the residents of this community live are difficult based on the surrounding violence and discrimination they face. Tre, Ricky’s best friend, is able to survive the surrounding violence and discrimination through his father’s sensational leadership; he therefore knows what to do in situations he faces among his friends. However, his friends are not so lucky. For example, Dough doesn’t have great leadership or a father figure, but is raised by a single mother who is determined to get her children to succeed; nevertheless, her main focus is Ricky because he has the most potential; he is an athlete who has trouble in school, but obtains All-American in football, looking to get a scholarship to USC. The mother’s lack of leadership over

Some might be obstacles that one might face and others may be internal, or even both. Amir experiences some very difficult obstacles that a normal twelve year old boy would not have to deal with. One of the biggest problems that Amir faced was when he saw his best friend, Hassan, get raped by another boy named Assef. Amir sees what is happening and decides to run away because he is scared of what might happen to him if he tries to stop Assef from hurting Hassan. “ In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt”(77). This was a turning point in Amir’s life because he realized that he was making a mistake and he would not help his best friend even though Hassan would do anything for him. Many people have

     Throughout the story there are several aspects of the Protagonist’s character that play a major role in the shaping of her future. During her childhood she