In determining someone to be an other—someone seen as separate from the rest of the community—many factors are at play. One of the biggest of these factors is a person’s race. Primarily, this concept causes people who are not white to be treated different, as others, in their society. However, the drive between races and the ignorance of people towards other races can be driven by other aspects of life. Things like an individual’s belongings, the environment he is in, and the attitudes of others around him further perpetuate his separation from society by his race. One can become an other by owning, or not owning, something different than the people around him. Diouana, in Sembene’s film La Noire De…, is an example of being an other based on the things she has. In order to be accepted and attempt to fit in when she first moves to France, Diouana wears old clothing from her employer. Nevertheless, as she begins to continually dislike and feels oppressed by Madame, Diouana reverts back to wearing her clothing from home. This clothing is markedly different than the fashion of France and sets her apart. She is asserting her otherness through this. The clothing Diouana wore in Africa set her apart from France and the French employers because they did not have or use the same style of clothing. Similarly, Roddy Doyle’s “Guess Who’s Coming for the Dinner” highlights this separation of people by material objects through Larry meeting Ben for the first time. Larry was immensely
Authors in many instances use the main elements in the story such as setting and narrative to prove a point in the story. For example, writers often use characters, their actions, and their interaction with other characters to support or prove a theme. In the short story “Our Thirteenth Summer”, Barry Callaghan effectively uses characters to develop the theme that childhood is fragile and easily influenced. One of the ways that Callaghan makes effective use of characters to develop the theme is by describing the tension between Bobbie and his parents. This usage of characters supports the theme because Bobbie’s childhood is no longer free to do what he wishes, but has to bow down to his parents’
Jimmy knows too well the agonies of abandonment. First, when his mother, Cecilia, ran away with Richard to pursue a better lifestyle. Then, due to his father’s, Damacio Baca, alcoholisms and violent behavior; he also had to leave Jimmy behind. In spite of the drawbacks from abandonment to being a maximum security prisoner in Arizona State Prison, Jimmy preserver’s the darkness of prison by overcoming his illiteracy. However Cecilia and Damacio is not as fortunate as their child; Cecilia is shot by Richard after confronting him for a divorce and Damacio chokes to death after he is released from the detox center(Baca 263). Therefore the most significant event in this section of the memoir, A Place to Stand by Jimmy Santiago Baca is the death of Jimmy’s parents.
The award-winning author, Luis Alberto Urrea, creator of The Hummingbird's Daughter, Into the Beautiful North, and The Devil's Highway, describes The Devil’s Highway which occurred in May of 2001, one of many that impacted the desert on undocumented immigrants. which is a desert located beyond Sonora, Mexico. It is a desert which few turn to in able to cross over. A group of illegal Mexican were left for dead after attempting to cross; they were left stranded after traveling for days in the wrong direction, through mountains, desert and only a small amount of water along with a few personal items. The Devil’s Highway name was set out to one’s belief “bad medicine” (5). Even though the desert is an obstacle itself, there are still other physical
The essay “Being an Other” was written by Melissa Algranati. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Birmingham and has a master’s degree from Colombia University. The reason as to why she wrote this particular essay was to discuss and describe her experiences of not fitting easily into any particular identity group. Her intended audience are those individuals who seem to have difficulties feeling part of a group. The text was originally published in Thomas Dublin’s “Becoming American, Becoming Ethnic: College Students Explore Their Roots.” Algranati’s identity crisis led her to publish this essay and more importantly show what it was like to be mistaken for another ethnic background. She goes on to make the noteworthy argument,
“It’s because he no longer loves us sweetheart. Pack your stuff, we’re leaving this house and your father who doesn’t care enough anymore about this family.”
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines takes place in 1940’s, a time period of segregation. This was a time when blacks were often at fault for a crime they did not commit, such as what transpired in this book. A man named Jefferson was convicted of a crime he did not commit and was insulted during court. Now his family, friends, and even Jefferson himself were trying to prove the white community wrong about their beliefs that a black man is unequal and lacks dignity against Jefferson and the black community. Not only is Jefferson going through a period of suffering on death row, but others, like Grant Wiggins and Miss Emma, are also facing their struggles and they will try to prove others wrong and redeem themselves through knowledge,
All refugees, the circumstances notwithstanding, face immense hardship throughout their lives. In time, these hardships give way to new opportunities, dreams, and perspectives, as even in the face of suffering, one always retains their intrinsic self. Kim Ha, the protagonist in Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out and Back Again, experienced this through her family’s daring escape from war-torn South Vietnam. Consequently, Inside Out and Back Again serves as a fitting title for her story.
“Everyone in society should be a role model, not only for their own self-respect, but for respect from others.” ~ Barry Bonds. In this world bad situations occur frequently and it takes a good strong person to handle them in a mature way. Dealing with them this way not only shows that the person has self-control, but also makes them a good role model for people to look up to. In the book The Chosen, Chaim Potok uses Mr. Galanter to express his opinions of a good role model. Acting as a baseball coach and gym teacher, young boys look to him for guidance and motivation every day. Having this kind of position causes stress at times, and requires him to stay calm and level headed. Throughout this book, Mr. Galanter
How does the author encourage virtue or corruption? In the book, The Dark Inside, the author Jeyn Roberts encourages virtue through her character’s actions. Roberts encourages virtue through the insincere actions within a character. Roberts encourage virtue through another character dishonest actions. Lastly, Jeyn also encourages virtue through cowardice actions in a character. In Dark Inside, Jeyn Roberts inspires the reader to be virtuous.
Natalie Sterling, a seventeen year old senior at Ross Academy had just won class president and beat her opponent Mike Domski. Mike was the kind of guy that Natalie and her best friend Autumn tried to stay away from. The girls at Ross Academy were known as demeaning and “boy crazy.” One day, during the pep rally a bunch of freshman dressed in trampy clothing and started to dance inappropriately. The leader’s name was Spencer a girl Natalie used to babysit for. The flirty freshman called themselves “Prostitutes” or Ross Academy prostitutes. Not only was Natalie embarrassed and angry by Spencers action but, she was disappointed. When the principal and Ms. Bee the student council head were talking to the girls punishments Natalie barged in. Natalie explained how she wanted to have a lock-in for all the girls in trouble and any others from school who wanted to come, about feminism and women's rights. Ms. Bee and Natalie agreed that it would be a good idea for
Spending time in jail can really change a man. In the novel A Lesson Before Dying by award-winning author Ernest J Gaines, the story is about a young man with a challenge of a lifetime. Grant one of the main characters is given a task of changing a man. The novel takes place in Bayonne Louisiana, where the Civil Rights Act has not yet taken place. Segregation was still an issue at this time, and many of the characters throughout the novel face segregation head-on.
One of my challenges is sharing a room with my sister and her name is Marcie Fuentest was a challenge because when it was bedtime and I was trying to go to bed and Marcie would talk to me for hours and hours.I fix it by “telling her if she dose’t be quite then” I will tell my mom and dad and then she was
The book Beyond The Pale is about Two ordinary people (Travis Wilder and Grace Beckett) who get transported to this new and magic filled world that resembles earths medieval times. With there new found powers they hope to save this new world from its impending doom. (The pale king and his iron heart followers). I choose to write about Grace for my character analysis because I admire her intelligence, her cleverness, and her independent nature. Grace is intelligent because she always had a plan.
In the book, A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, Grant Wiggins is a hero of discrimination because at first, he didn’t really care whether or not Jefferson died but after spending time with him, he started to care. In the beginning of the book, Grant was selected by Jefferson’s godmother, Miss Emma to make Jefferson realize that he isn’t a hog. “I want the teacher talk to my boy for me.' He looked over her head at me, standing back by the door. I was too educated for Henri Pichot; he had no use for at all anymore. But just as Miss. Emma had given so much of herself to that family, so had my aunt. So Henri Pichot, who cared nothing in the world
In fact, S said many Ethiopian immigrants reject the label “black,” and talk differently about themselves from other US born black people. Then S provided an anecdote of him recognizing his own race in the US society for the first time. When he was young, his mom always locked the door whenever they drove down the neighborhood of which residents were predominantly black. S’s parents labeled the US born blacks in Arabic word that technically meant “slave,” a derogatory term for African Americans. But in general, S said his parents avoided answering to many of the questions pertaining to racial issues in American society, and were even afraid that S might actively express his thoughts about such matter in public. Although his parents’ racial attitudes remained relatively reticent, S “clearly remember[ed] that there was very distinguishable ‘us’ from the ‘other’ black people, who may be dressing or speaking differently.” The social identity theory suggests that it is a natural tendency to categorize people into us vs. them, assigning superior traits to in-group and negative traits to out-group. However, it was surprising to learn that people would not want to identify with the race that most people would categorize them in. This phenomenon of dissociating themselves from other African Americans resonates with Tatum’s internalized oppression, which explains when the member of a