Mammita's Garden Cove Essay

I’m not the Indian you had in mind; a video that was written and directed by Thomas King challenges the stereotypical image that America has towards Native Americans. King is also the author of a short novel “A seat in the Garden”. This short story also challenges the established perspective that American society has towards the Native Americans. There are various stereotypes and perspectives that a majority of the public has toward a particular group. For example some of the common stereo types that are seen throughout the media are that all Asians are good at math, women are primarily sex objects, All Africans like fried chicken, and all Mexicans are gangsters. These stereo types are not completely true for an entire group, yet they

“Dad bought it with the rest of his savings” she replies. “He knew this would happen”’. The boat had also started leaking and Jamal and Bibi kept on trying to scoop water out of the boat – despite how cold and numb they were. To prove this, the novel quotes: ‘Poor Bibi. We’re numb and cold. And dizzy with exhaustion and hunger ... I keep scooping.’ This demonstrates that the characters’ longing for freedom, equality and independence drove them to find a better life in Australia.

The author uses a seemingly endless cycle of poverty to emphasize the cage in which the characters are trapped. As Lizabeth muses over her childhood, she recalls the daily cycle of how “each morning our mother and father trudged wearily down the dirt road and around the bend, she to her domestic job, he to his daily unsuccessful quest for work.” (1). Every morning began the same way, passed the same way, and ended the same way. Lizabeth feels trapped, forced to go through the same series of events for what seems to be the rest of her life, with the same people, in the same place. When the author pairs this with the “dusty” setting of the town and the time placement of the Great Depression, it creates an effect of hopelessness for the first part of the story. This is only furthered by Lizabeth continually returning to the idea that “Poverty was the cage in which we were all trapped.” (1). Lizabeth opens the story by first giving a description of her hometown as “dusty”, remembering the poverty and hopelessness. She then continues by referring to the cage of not having enough money, and the cycle that it put them through, and ends by alluding to her future being limited to her poverty.

Trapped by his economic status, Guy is out of reach of any opportunities to better his family’s life. Because of this, he learned to accept that being a permanent worker at the sugar mill would never happen. Growing older, he knows he wants better for his son’s life, but must keep up with the normal life his family belongs to. Many years ago, it was determined that the men of a specific decent were the only ones allowed to work at the mill. The Haitians of Lebanese, the sugar mill owners, were the workers because they had been in the country for generations. As the narrator explains, “The jobs at the sugar mill were few and far between. The people who had them never left, or when they did they would pass the job on to another family member who was already waiting on line” (Danticat 97-99). Since Guy was viewed as a lower class to the community, he worried about his son’s future, but his wife tried to overlook the thought of her son living like Guy. Multiple times, Guy tried to tell his wife about his escape plan to a better life, but she blew it off each and every time.

This story allowed me to see into the thoughts and emotions of a recently immigrated family. I was able to see how difficult it is to find a balance between your old culture and the one you are moving into, which I wasn’t aware was such a struggle. As a reader I was able to understand how the people around me potentially may be feeling, as this story gave me a good view of the emotions they experienced. Canada is a diverse place and now I am able to sympathize to people around me, since many have gone through the struggle of immigrating. Hopefully the story has allowed all readers to also see the challenge of moving to a new place, as some of them may have experienced it themselves and never had anyone understand. As an individual I cannot

Ned lives a high social class in the suburbs and spends much of his time partaking in activities that wealthy people are expected to. Suddenly, while at his neighbors, Ned comes up with the idea to head home on the eight-mile journey, but instead of taking a normal route, he decides that he will swim home through his neighbor’s pools. Throughout his adventure Ned learns a lot about himself and ultimately realizes that the neighborhood he lives in is nothing more than a group of people who are using alcohol in order to either hide or cope. On top of all of this, Ned has undoubtedly begun to experience signs of memory loss and by the end of the story he realizes that his life is empty as he has no family, friends, or wealth. In this short-story, Cheever uses the pain of emptiness in order to connect with his

Patrick Symmes embarks on a trip to Cuba for thirty days to live as a Cuban and then share his experiences. He limits his spending to that of $15 a month, the paycheck of a journalist in Cuba. This small budget is what Symmes hopes will connect him to the real Cuban lifestyle, but the journey proves to be more difficult than he though. At one point, Symmes caves and spends a good portion of his wages on a small pizza. After, he felt defeated and writes, “. ... I had to sit down. Then I burst into tears. For a good ten minutes, I wept cursing myself. Moron! Fool! Idiot!” His frustrated was understanable considering he spent 60 cents on a very tiny pizza. Yet, it accurately depicts the tendency of many Americans to give into temporary desires

John learns that work has caused him to lose touch with the neighborhood where he has lived for many years. And he finds out that things weren't always as they seemed to be -- in many ways.

At this moment in the story, the narrator has been through a lot of challenging situations and reflects upon each of those by ending the story with a summary of his most significant moments. He explains his position within his world and how he has learned to adapt to its demanding standards. In addition, he mentions that the world is filled with indefinite possibilities and that one should reach beyond the corridors of what men consider to be “reality.” To be more exact, he’s insinuating that one should never settle for less, if one is able to improve their quality of life. The narrator no longer visualizes the world filled with illusion; he perceives the world from a more realistic perspective after facing many struggles along his journey

I've chosen to write about the artwork In Magnolia Gardens by Alfred Hutty. It is an oil on canvas piece. The piece is approximately medium to large portrait. In Magnolia Gardens was created in 1945, a response to a time right after World War 1, where many people in Charleston were in despondency and poor, the rise of tourism benefited them greatly. I selected this work because it has bright but at the same time dark imagery, giving it a majestic but haunting piece of work.

The story I chose to write about is the story, Between The Pool and the Gardenias. This story is

One day a girl named Sophia wished for a million dollars. But then when she got her million dollars Sophia decided to spend her money on a private island and a boat. She bought the island because she didn’t like people and would only see people when she wanted. Then one day she decided to go take a trip to her island and see what it really looked like then Sophia realized she forgot to tie her boat up. So she was stuck there and she didn’t see that she had sharks all around her. Then she found out she didn’t have a lot of food because she left it on the boat thinking she could go back and get it when she needed it so she couldn’t live there for a long time. When she was on the island she wished she didn’t have the island. While she was on

Johanson,” Deshawn blurts out before handing the gorgeous lady a tall brown envelope. The usual pearly white smile that deshawn received was replaced, instead, by a half hearted grin. The Johansons, in Deshawn’s eyes, was the perfect family. A small dog being chased by their hope filled son behind a nicely, posted, white picket fence. Little joey Johanson or “JJ” reminded everyone of the joy that comes with childhood. While showing off a bright smile, one that can only be rivaled by his mother’s, joey continues to chase the dog around the yard. Getting back into his delivery vehicle, Deshawn notices something out of the ordinary. He’s been delivering to this family for years, and not one time has he failed to see the head of the house’s vehicle missing from it’s usual spot. Tom Johanson and Deshawn both graduated from the same high school. Even though they never really spoke to one another, neither of two would deny being friends with the other. Tom met his gorgeous wife, Cynthia Log, one day after being late for his bus stop. This made Deshawn ponder : had he not traveled to school in one of the shorter buses, could he have possessed the same fate as Tom’s. He gave one more good look at paradise before heading home. Delivering to the Johanson’s is what reminds Deshawn, on a weekly basis, that life could me so much better. His deliveries to that whole neighborhood is a painful reminder of his failures and pointless efforts. What could be worst than being subjected out of paradise, then being forced to service those who weren’t? As he closed his eyes, for bed, Deshawn came to the conclusion that maybe the only thing worst than being below paradise is falling from it.

The poem “A woman in the garden of light” by Dejan Stojanovic demonstrates that personal discoveries can lead to new ideas about the relationship between individuals and the world. This is reflected through the extended metaphor of the ‘Garden’ which symbolises the Genesis of new worlds and the extended metaphors of the light which symbolises knowledge. These symbols demonstrate that spiritual discoveries can be shared throughout society, and influence new perspectives of the world. This is evident when the persona ‘witnesses the birth of new landscapes, future cities and temples.” The metaphorical birth represents the persona’s discovery of the world’s potential for future growth. The persona is transformed by the discovery of the world to

Simón arrives in a strange, new place and has to adapt to the people around him and the way they live. This world has some utopian characteristics such as: flats and buses and courses at the Institute. Simón’s coworkers at the wharf are content with their labor and the way they