Karen van der Zee's A Secret Sorrow and Gail Godwin's A Sorrowful Woman

On September 11th 2001, 70 years old Rita Laser lost her brother. Along with Kelly, Colleen, David, Eva, and Amber who as well lost someone special to them in the attack. Many of the victims families hid in silence after the attack, full of sadness, the government was trying to get revenge for the victims that were lost in the attack. However Rita Laser had a different outlook, she and others did not want revenge by killing other, her, Kelly, Colleen, David, Eva, and Amber were all trying to install peace into the world not start a war. In Sue Halpern’s “A Peaceful Mourning” describes that in the aftermath of the attack they have all devoted their lives into advocating peace throughout the world, in their lost one’s name.

Suicide has become the second leading cause of death among teens in the United States. American youth have more risk to mental disorders due to race, sexuality, family, and stress of fitting in with their surroundings. Many mental illnesses will lead to suicidal thoughts or eventually to an attempt at suicide. Anxiety and the pressure to fit in contributes greatly to depression and suicide, particularly in high school. During youth, it's especially hard to find who you are, and still have the risk of getting made fun of or being bullied. Mental disorders along with substance abuse can also increase suicidal tendencies commodiously.All of these factors lead to the most common mental disorder, depression. Depression in young adults is the most

Waverly was going to tell Lindo of her and Rich’s engagement, but whenever she mentioned him, Lindo cut her off and began to talk about something else. Waverly was convinced that her mother did not have any good intentions, and that she never saw good in people. Due to this, she was afraid of what her mother will say when she would meet Rich. According to Waverly, she and Rich shared a “pure love”, which she was afraid her mother would poison. Waverly planned to go to Auntie Suyuan’s house with Rich for dinner, knowing that her mother would then invite the two over for dinner to her house, and this would give her mother a chance to get to know and warm up to Rich. However, when they went for dinner, Rich did everything incorrectly- he didn’t understand Chinese customs and made several mistakes that were seen as

Television psychologists and pop culture self-help gurus tell us that marriage is hard work; marriage is compromise; marriage is a choice between being right, and being happy. All of these statements are true. What these experts don’t tell us, however, is that marriage is also about putting on blinders, or looking on the bright side, or one of a hundred other trite phrases to explain the art of self-deception. In marriage, there are times when we may find it necessary to look the other way from our spouse’s faults or indiscretions, in the interest of self-preservation. For if we examine these problems too closely, our darkest, most secret fears may come true. Therefore, it can seem easier to focus on the positive. In her poem “Surprise,” Jane Kenyon uses denial, selective perception, and fear of betrayal to illustrate the self-deception that can occur in marriage.

Culture defines humanity. Culture makes humans different than any other living organism ever known. Culture is what makes humans unique, and yet culture is easily the most misunderstood characteristic of individuals. In Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan develops the theme of incomplete cultural understanding leads to an inability to communicate one’s true intentions through juxtaposition and conflict between mothers and daughters and their cultures.

As time passes in a relationship, it is inevitable that confrontations are bound to occur. Whether small disagreements created from minor issues, to mediocre arguments based on daily matters, to serious incidents that can reflect relationship taboos, it is a couple’s perception and understanding of each other that can strengthen or weaken their union. The poem “How It Will End” by Denise Duhamel portrays two couples involved in similar matters as those previously described. One couple is having, what appears to be, an argument at the beach and the second couple is watching them from afar, as they’re on a boardwalk. As the poem progresses, the second couple’s assumptions of what

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan follows multiple Chinese-American women who struggle with their self-identity and creating a balance between American and Chinese culture. Because of their immigration and many hardships in life, many of the women feel like they cannot truly tell who they are anymore, and throughout the novel these women are portrayed as ghosts. Ghosts are used to symbolize these women because they share many parallels including being only a remnant of who they once were, or who they could be. Ying-ying St. Clair is one of the women, who has a daughter named Lena St. Clair, she has had a troubled past in China, which has made her lose her fighting spirit, and her spirit in general. Ying-ying is fully aware of her loss of spirit and is embarrassed because she considers ghosts to be shameful and weak, and wants to save her daughter, Lena, from her fate.

The relationship between women and men might be complicated for some while sometimes even a really loving relationship cannot survive if people chose their personal longing as a priority. Women and men fight in relationships; fight for more independence, fight to prove their worthiness and keep forgetting that love is not a fight but a mutual support.

Faye had to expect that she would one day have to explain her secret to Kai but why did she wait till he proposed to her? Why didn’t she tell him in the beginning of their relationship? Why did she even give love a chance knowing a man usually wants to have a future with a family?

Water is something that is seen as solely necessary for human beings to stay hydrated, but the novels being mentioned in this paper describe water as being something more. Praisesong for the Widow by Paule Marshall, Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat and Masters of the Dew by Jacques Roumain all depict water as being something that helps with liberation, recovery and new life.

“True love is hard to find.” “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”. These words have been told to and heard from family, friends, co-workers and even words in a poem. (A.C. Bradley). These words are said to someone to comfort and express sympathy and understanding to one that is having a relationship issues. Only a lucky few have found true love the very first time love has entered the into their space, some have managed to remain married over forty years or more. Life’s dilemmas interfere with true love from entering the lives of the people that love has touched. Parents protecting their children, worrying about what other think, love not being reciprocated, fell in love too young, self-esteem too low, looking for

The most common relationship problems are those between couples. Having intense feelings for another, being deeply or passionately in love with someone is sheer joy. However, when troubles arise, is can be devastating. Whether the relationship is strong because of passion, comfort or admirable qualities such as commitment towards each other, it leaves a feeling of disappointment when there is a disturbance that appears as a flaw in this perfect affair of the heart. Depending on what the problems are,

Every relationship is not the best relationship because sometimes it is like your trapped and isolated so that makes it harder to adjust and bond. In the story “ The Story Of An Hour” Mrs. Mallard was in an overbearing relationship to where she felt trapped. However, her luck would soon change when she gets terrible news about her husband’s death. Meanwhile, the freedom that she thinks she has at that moment will soon be no more because her husband will not be dead. Furthermore, she will soon lose it once the news is broken to her about Mr. Mallard’s status of health. However, just from that, she will begin losing her sanity and herself all at once. And in the end, will die of a joy that kills or sadness that kills. This relationship can be good or bad because it is not always what the spouse wants (Chopin 720) “The Story Of An Hour” relationships are not for everyone simply because it is a commitment until death and some people aren’t as committed.

In the pieces “The Eye” by Alice Munro and “Girl” written by Jamaica Kincaid, both writings go into depth explaining the relationships between mother and daughter on how much it impacts the roles of women in society. In Alice Munro’s story, the mother and daughter's relationship starts to change once she starts to gain siblings in her life. Once this occurs, the mother tells her how she's supposed to feel. Unfortunately, she does not feel the same way that leads her admiring someone else who makes her own choices in life. In Jamaica Kincaid's piece, it shows us on how to follow these specific rules, to be able to live life as a woman that is being told by the mother to her daughter. Both of these pieces show how much these mother and daughter relationships affect their child's on what their women role will be in the future.

Vulnerability plays an important role in any relationship. People need to feel needed. They need to feel they fill a special place in their partner’s lives that no one else can. They want to be missed when they are gone and celebrated when they return. Women forget the men have these feelings and the men forget women have these exact same feelings. One