My Father Killed Himself And I Became A Lesbian Cartoonist

I somehow knew what my aunt would say to me when I answered the ringing phone in my hand. There was an unexplainable, sickening feeling in my abdomen that told me something was wrong. Hesitating, I frantically tried to think of what else it could be before finally clicking “answer.” The cold surface of my phone pressed up to my ear, and my aunt spoke words that I will never forget.

At the Marjory Douglas High School production of “Annie,” the audience was charmed with adorable dogs and well-sung harmonies. “Annie”, a cheery musical first debuting on Broadway in 1977, is about an orphan, Annie, who gets chosen to stay at Oliver Warbucks’, a billionaire, house for a few weeks. The show focuses on the father-daughter relationship that is formed between Annie and Warbucks.

Joy’s lukewarm acting career in L.A. had fizzled when she moves to Berkeley with her boyfriend, Mark. While there, she meets Malcolm, a physics professor, at a holiday dinner. Under the night sky, they talk of their love of the play, “Our Town.” Then he takes her hand and her imagination runs wild. That’s when their loving friendship began… That was fifteen years ago.

While Toni Morrison’s Sula and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home take place decades apart, the similar message of both speaks volumes about how the status quo was maintained and continued to prevail throughout the nearly thirty years that separates these novels. Despite the contention of a societal consensus that suggests sociopolitical progress has been made, the plot lines of these books, written by two women who experienced these hardships firsthand, portrays a much different story of continuing suppression. In both Fun Home and Sula, the main characters discover their identity as they come of age in a world where their true selves are not always met by an accepting society. Through the literary use of the symbol of mirrors, the exploration of sexuality, and contrasting character development, Morrison and Bechdel illustrate the struggle of self-realization.

Although Alison tried “earnestly” to connect with her mother in the same way she tried to write in her diary, in the end, all that was left of the story of their relationship was blank pages. There could have been a connection there through their shared love

When I was in the seventh grade I fell down the stairs at my junior high school on slushy December day. One of my friends helped me to the school nurse and when I got there she simply handed me a ziploc bag of ice and sent me on my way back to class. I went the rest of that day limping class to class. After school, my mother picked me up unaware of what happened earlier that day. Once I told her she took me to the emergency room right away. After numerous x-rays the verdict was in... I had fractured my growth plate in my left ankle. I believe the school should have taken better safety precautions since I was not the only one to fall on those stairs, there were two other falls on the same stair case prior to mine. In my option I think in

It was 2nd quarter in 6th grade. I was sitting on my saucer chair relaxing, and enjoying the silence in my bedroom. I sit there thinking in my sweats cuddles up in a large fuzzy purple blanket. Then suddenly I was awakened after spacing out from my phone. The text was from Emma, I was a little sceptical because we hadn’t talked in a couple of days. I hesitantly opened it and slowly and carefully read it. The text said, “I hate myself, I hate how I look, I hate how I feel, and I hate how people look at me”. I felt absolutely terrible, and was in a bind not knowing what to say back. All I knew was Emma needed to know how important she was to this world and that she meant so much to her friends and family.

Bechdel mentions her extensive reading and how she discovered her sexuality first through books and the accounts and wisdom of her forerunners before she had her own experiences to judge from. In writing this novel detailing her coming of age story, wrestling with her father’s suicide, and exploring her sexuality often in graphic terms and illustrations, Bechdel transfers her knowledge and expands on this literary legacy of representing and giving a voice to the LGBTQ+ community and experience. Similar to Sexton, Bechdel recognizes in her writing that she is entering a discussion which has very few participants, both due to limited information and resources and further, from the shame perpetuated by social stigmas and ignorance. Arguably, American literature strives to educate its readers, not merely academically, but also socially and emotionally. Thus, by providing and illustrating their personal experiences, writers such as Wright, Bechdel, and Sexton teach their audiences about greater discussions, diverse opinions and traditions, and ultimately recognize the value in conscientiousness. Perhaps knowing every individual experiences and views the world in their own way may also empower every individual to live better

While some of the play is quite literally bottoms up, Untitled Feminist Show does not hold to typical a bottom-up model of community work which feminists are known for (Hyde 2005). Theatrical performances by nature are public spaces, and use the public sphere as its arena to communicate stories and messages to a greater community. Young Jean Lee uses theater in a unique way

The Oxford Dictionary states that excellence is the quality of being outstanding or extremely good. This noun embodies who I am. Not only that but I also work to achieve excellence as often as possible. In my lifetime, I have learned so many things and have been through a lot. All of this help me to be excellent.

As Alison begins to question her identity and sexuality, she recalls bits of memories from her past to help her find who she is. The most interesting and impacting discovery occurs when Alison learns about her father’s sexuality. Alison can now identify herself with her father, yet she can’t be proud of his character. Unlike Alison, her father portrays shameful emotions towards his sexuality. The finding underlines the internal conflict of the father and the themes found in Fun Home. I also underwent an important uncovering and in high school, I finally decide to show the world who I truly am.

A dark grey ghost passes by my sister and I in the front room of our house. It was our mother. Our Aunt Paulette approaches us a few seconds later. She takes us by the hands, looks at us, and from her lips she says, “girls, your baby brother is an angel now.”

Alison was a conniving young girl who found out everyone’s secrets and used them against other people, sound familiar, huh? Well, the girls in the beginning thought that Alison was “A” because of the obvious letter used as the pseudonym and also because the way they did things matched up. Alison was always manipulative and practically lived off of being cruel and ruining people. But the girls’ theories were debunked once Alison’s body was found at the end of the book and she was declared dead, and had been for a while.. “But the girls were also afraid of her. ali knew more about them than anyone else did, including the bad stuff they wanted to bury just like a body. It was horrible to think Ali might be dead, but… if she was, at least their secrets were safe.” pg.18. This evidence shows that even Ali’s best friends were afraid of the things that she would do because she knew their secrets. And for a split second, even though they didn’t know of her condition, they were thankful she could be dead. They had believed that once Ali was dead, their secrets would rest in peace as

If you find yourself bombarded with strife from everyday life, this is the perfect feel-good show. Although originally set in the depression era, this upbeat, light-hearted musical shines brighter than the Golden age. This romantic comedy overlaps storylines of two odd-ball matchings: The renown high-roller, Sky Mason, accidentally falls for the prude missionary, Sarah Brown, during a bet placed by the clever promoter, Nathan Detroit, who hustles to maintain his sporadic crap game, while pacifying his darling fiancé of 14 years, Miss Adelaide. When a simple bet sets hearts in motion, we find that love isn’t prejudice and saints and sinners aren’t dissimilar.

Many experts credit its iconic character types, its groundbreaking performance style, its unfortunately enduring relatability, and it influenced many plays that followed it; with characters like Billy, the spent salesman; Biff, the high school athlete with a short temper and a feeling of not belonging into society; Happy, the younger brother who plays everything up; and Linda, the devoted wife who doesn’t blame her husband for the error of his ways. But this play brought up the very real issues of what goes on in our everyday