Jenny's Peers Summary Sparknotes

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.

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, all the literary features are established making this novel very worthy to read. This excerpt is from chapter three of the novel. It is the evening after Scout’s first day of school, and Scout seeks for help from Calpurnia, and Atticus. Scout questions the need to return back to school to Atticus, as she does not accept Miss.Caroline’s perspective on Scout having to stop reading at home.With the use of imagery and the characterization of Atticus, this excerpt proves that family with always educate you, and spoil you with

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them”, says Maya Angelou, an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. This quote reflects to Sarah’s journey in the novel Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay, since the main character, Sarah, faces events that affect her well being, as they make her both weaker and stronger. These events causes her to lose her innocence, makes her persistent, and then eventually drives her to be pessimistic. Sarah experiences traumatic events through her journey, which leads her to change both in a positive and negative way.

The relationship between Jenny and Forrest is initially looked at as Forrest’s savior, but Jenny also saw it as a way to escape her father when they were children, then later giving Forrest the role of safety net. He was always there when Jenny needed someone to lean on. She cares for Forrest very much and while she is kindhearted, she has also shown how selfish and self-destructing she is. By the end of her life she redeems herself by fulfilling Forrest’s dream to marry her while simultaneously leaving her son with his father to be taken care of.

Amanda Wingfield’s life is turned upside down by her husband’s departure. In her mind it shatters hope for

Williams' work contains constant narratives of her own personal struggle against breast cancer and its effects on those dear to her, enveloping readers emotionally while, through abrupt statements, simultaneously redirecting them towards future solutions. Her account commences immediately with a declaration of the author's horrific family history: "I belong to a Clan of One-breasted

“When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy.” This beginning to the novel “Ellen Foster” by Kaye Gibbons, prepares readers to enter the world of one of the most influential and appealing young woman protagonists in modern fiction. Ellen Foster, the main character of the book by Gibbons, is, in my view, the most fascinating and remarkable character in the story. Readers are introduced to the narrator Ellen, a determined, yet mature and individualistic eleven-year-old, who lives in the South during the 1970s. She lives with an alcoholic father and a sick mother. Ellen must go through many hardships and face much trauma, when she foreshadows her mother’s death and the long journey in front of her by saying that a storm is coming- “I can smell the storm and see the air thick with the rain coming.” (p.7). Young Ellen must go through much more than the average child her age, but she knows that she will get her happy ending. After dealing with her abusive father and depressed mother, Ellen deserves to go to a happy family, one that will accept her with smiles on their faces and joy in their eyes. Even if it means jumping from foster home to foster home, from a cruel grandmother to a condescending aunt and cousin, Ellen will find the people that will love her, even if it means first having to go to those who don’t.

She was alone, she was scared, she had no idea that her normal life would be taken away for the next eighteen years… and hope is the sole reason that she survived it. For kidnap victim, Jaycee Dugard, the word “hope” brings back a flood of emotions and memories. In her chilling memoir, “A Stolen Life”, she describes a very personal experience in which she encountered at age eleven, where she soon learned just how important hope was. Dugard never saw it coming when a man named Phillip Garrido stole her from that bus stop on just another normal morning… or so she thought. Soon after, he took her away and held her hostage in his backyard for almost two decades. Interestingly enough, she has miraculously turned this cruel situation into a very inspiring story. Therefore, she proves to us that even if you’re living out your worst nightmare, you still have something to live for. For this reason, Dugard puts together a descriptive setting, her absurd relationship with her abductor, and personal symbols to illustrate how just a little hope can be the essence of surviving any situation life throws at you.

In just a matter of months, Sarah has hastily experienced and heard things that she hadn’t thought she would. As she moved into her cousin’s home, she begins to see how the

Then, we have Robin Stokes, who is a young, beautiful woman but is simultaneously insecure and anxious and looks for her self-confidence through men who abuse her financially, sexually, and emotionally. Her relationship with her family creates another burden her, as her father has Alzheimer’s and her mother is the only one who wants to take care of him. Eventually, they have no choice but to admit him to a nursing home, but it is a decision that is hard for the both of them. Her relationship with men is also a tumultuous one, in which she has an affair with a man named Russell, and even though she finds out he is married to another man, her good sense is pushed away by her attraction for him.

Mary Lee Johnston, the mother of Precious, is an abusive woman who despises Precious for “stealing her man.” She weighs over 300 pounds and rarely leaves the house. Her “arms seem like giant arms” and “her legs which she always got cocked open seem like ugly tree logs.” She never tried to stop Carl, her sadistic boyfriend, from abusing Precious. She never encourages Precious to do anything with her life by telling her that “school can’t help you none.” Mary defrauds the welfare system without guilt and fails to provide care to Precious in any way.

Imagery of the town (6) - town appears nothing fancy, old & small community, heat of the south reinforced

Imagine you have just moved from Kissimmee, Florida and you walk ride into a mansion owned by your dad’s best friend in West Chester, New York. So many emotions are running though your head as you step inside and see a beautiful brunette girl who is staring back at you with antipathy. This is what happened to Claire Lyons as she moved from Florida to New York because of her dad’s job. In the journal I will be connecting, predicting, and questioning.

These constant beatings in Maggie Johnson’s home, furniture thrown from parent to parent, and every aspect of her family life as being negative, her family situation is not an extremly healthy one. But, despite her hardships, Maggie grows up to become a beautiful young lady whose romantic hopes for a more desirable life remain untarnished.

Walker introduces the reader to the protagonist, Celie, through a series of letters. In these letters the reader finds Celie amidst her mother’s death. The author chooses to address her letters to God, giving Celie a greater willpower to survive. Celie’s upbringing gave her maternal authority; as seen through the multiple maternal roles she played through the novel. Her mother’s death forces her to step up and fill a, painful role revealing her inner strength and ability to remain optimistic.The full