Katherine Brush's The Birthday Party

Gilbert K. Chesterton, an English poet and writer, once stated, “A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.” One great author is Pam Munoz Ryan who wrote Freddie in the Shade. This short story is about a boy named Freddie who is going to move to a different school but then gets the chance to work at a bakery with a girl named Amy. The author uses personality traits and setting to convey the theme of accepting and coping with change.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is about six of the worst children in the history of the world, they include Gladys, Claude, Imogene, Leroy, Ollie and Ralph Herdman. Mainly, because they lie; steal, smoke cigars, talk dirty, hit little kids, cuss at teachers, and take the name of the Lord in vain. A small town is turned upside down when the Herdman decide they want to take part in the annual Christmas pageant. According, to Charlie Bradley the best thing about Sunday school is that there are no Herdman there.

can to keep him happy. It is inferred that she isn’t very happy in her marriage through phrases

Her frustrations are due to the various forms of isolation that have made their marriage the focus of outside forces. “In the distance, sky and prairie now were merged into one another linelessly. All round her it was gathering; already in its press and whimpering there strummed a boding of eventual fury.” (Ross 5) This is where the physical isolation and the mental isolation merge to form the ‘storm’ or the ‘Steven’ that would bring about the end of their marriage. The isolation of communication has cost them their relationship, where before, anything relating to infidelity would be ludicrous to exist, but now, it is a

Many people have heard the saying “act your age.” When our birthdays come around most people think that they will fill more mature and act older; yet when our birthdays come around do we really feel any older? Sandra Cisneros remonstrates this in her short story “Eleven,” About a little girl name Rachel on her eleventh birthday. This short story discusses the events that go on during Rachel’s birthday and the emotions that go through her mind during all the experiences that she has on the day of her birthday. In Sandra Cisneros’ outstanding short story, “Eleven,” Cisneros, using characterization and conflict, shakes up a simple and predictable story to show reality rather than stereotypical ideas. Through these two literary devices, Cisneros demonstrates that even though people grow older they do not always feel older and act their age as viewed through the theme.

Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, the author of Random Family, depicts a diverse perspective of unpleasant life experiences people suffer from within ghetto communities. Although Random Family was not my choice to read, I am privileged to have read this remarkable book as it conveys distinctive similarities that accurately represent the male populace who live in underprivileged urban communities. To expand on the earlier mentioned, young men who cohabitate in ghetto communities often have relatives who actively influence their participation in gangs, drug sells, and incarceration. As I read the book, I became conscious of the chapter headings as it correlates with the endeavors that young males face of a lower socioeconomic status. For example, chapter titles such as The Street I, Lock Down II, Upstate III, House-to-House IV and Breaking Out V represent the struggles young men face at a micro-level (Strong & Cohen, 2014, p. 51). Random Family conveys the message that men in ghetto communities is unable to overcome the adversities associated with the street life; however, this message is untrue as there are men who have prevailed over the life they inherited becoming successful individuals and not allowing themselves to become victims of their environment.

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

The two essays, The Barbie Birthday by Alison Townsend and Let Women Fight by Megan H. Mackenzie, talk about women and girls in today’s world. Both essays focus on the depiction of females, but at different points in their life. The Barbie Birthday talks about the author as a little girl and her excitement of receiving a Barbie from her future stepmother. The story is vague, which help account for the several prompts questioning the piece. The other essay, Let Women Fight, speaks of the restrictions placed on women serving in the U.S. Military. The piece is quite longer than The Barbie Birthday, but it still allows for the prompts to be answered. These prompts focus on what the essay has left out, which claims have no evidence, and what

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.

Have you ever been involved in a bet at school when you were younger? Is it unbiased or not? Or did the person against you manipulate you for the money and you fall victim? The short story, “The Stolen Party” by Liliana Heker, is about a girl, Rosaura, who gets invited to a birthday party for Luciana Ines. Rosaura’s Mom works for the Ines family and was happy to go, but by the end of the story Rosaura found out that she was only sent to work there.

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 Stolen Party” by Liliana Heker is a short story about a girl’s life experience that changes her point of view on society. One day, she gets an invitation to a rich daughter’s birthday. Her mother is a maid and works for them. Rosaura’s youth and innocence shows that she doesn’t realize the true meaning of the invitation, and firmly believes that there is no social distinction between the rich and the poor. She believes that even if she is the maid’s daughter she is welcomely accepted in the party. Although she is only nine years old, Rosaura feels confident that she knows more about rich people than her mother. Heker uses symbols and figurative language to convey “to always

“Birthday Party” by Katherine Brush uses literary devices such as tone, point of view, diction, and sensory details to achieve her purpose.

Prejudice can manifest itself in many different ways, sometimes in the least likely of them. We often assume that the people we place our trust and faith in are free of prejudice, but this is not always true. We can observe this in real life and literature, as seen through the short story “The Stolen Party” by Liliana Heker. This story, about a young girl learning to understand the nature of prejudice and trust, introduces an important theme; that when we encounter prejudice, we should fight for what we believe. This theme is explored through Rosaura’s interaction with her mother, Luciana’s cousin and Senora Ines. These three characters lead Rosaura to question her beliefs, but nonetheless encourage her to to challenge any prejudice directed

In the short story, Rachel’s parents represent comfort from the outside world. “Mama is making a cake for me tonight, and when Papa gets home everybody will sing Happy birthday, happy birthday to you” (n.p.). The aforesaid quote is mentioned twice